Fealty's Sake
by DeliriumGothique
Summary: Victoria Shaw will be forever in Jane Shepard's Shadow.She goes to the Citadel to carve out a life that is her own, by Joining C-Sec. However the former marine, raises a few eyebrows and questions with her presence and history, Especially among the Turian Hierarchy. A Turian Military agent is assigned as her partner to see what she is truly up too - Set between all games OC in OU
1. Perfect day to be a human

**Fealty's Sake - Inauguration**

**Chapter 1 - Perfect Day to be Human**

* * *

"Perfect day to be part of the Earth-clan" snorted the slightly tipsy volus beside her as they both glanced up at the vids rolling around on loop on the holo-screen in the bar. The volus were a strange race, little round mole people in their environment suits. The rumour was if you cut their suits open, the volus inside would pretty much explode.

"Yeah…" Tori replied, disappointment laden in her voice as she stared up at the red head physique of Jane Shepard – the first human Spectre.

"Shepard…" The growl-tinged statement that came from Tori alarmed herself as much as the volus beside her. It wasn't that she disliked the commander. Not at all. If anything, Tori admired the tenacious, charismatic redhead more than anyone. But after all this time she was forever two, or more like eight, steps behind her. With a sigh she downed her watered whisky, the ice long since melted, bought only as Dutch courage. Rising off her stool to leave, she scooped up the data pad she had been pawing over the entire time she had been in that seedy bar.

Running fingers through off-black long hair, she sighed as she ran over her application one more time. Today was supposed to be the day that she finally handed in her application to Citadel Security; she would have been one of the very few humans on the force, but how could she hand it in now after Shepard had beaten her to the punch? Yet again, she was fighting Tori's battles for her. She would look presumptuous, egotistical even a bit opportunistic. With a groan, Tori slumped onto a bench overlooking the Presidium lakes. Data pad on her lap, body bent over, grasping her head with her hands as she shook it furiously at the outcome.

"Damn you, Shepard," she cursed bitterly in a nearly inaudible whisper, before hearing a familiar voice call out her name.

"Victoria!"

Wincing at her whole given name, she looked up through her wavy obsidian locks and saw the culprit. Her mother waved and walked calmly towards her, ever the vision of elegance and dignity. The elder Shaw woman glided over and considered her child carefully with silver eyes, then tilted her head to the side. Carefully tucking the short tresses behind her ear, she took a breath. Any second now she would say what was exactly on her daughter's mind. Trust a mother to know her child so well. It was both a blessing and a curse, that in a way there were no secrets between the two Shaw women, but then again, being a teenager with a mother who was theoretically a psychic made it impossible to get up to any mischief.

Like the time Tori and the ship's resident blonde, heart throb – what was his name again? That's right, Jamie Williams. They were going to steal the shuttle for a joy ride in space before some star lit making-out. They never made it off the ship. Her mother was sat in the pilot's seat, turning to drink in their shocked faces, with her best 'Major' scowl. It had been all Tori's fault and all Tori's idea, of course, Jamie had done very little to protest otherwise.

"Are you going to waste all day here, sitting and pouting?" she said, her face serene, but her eyes twinkling with playful mockery. With a whine, Tori leant back, her hands sliding against her legs as she rested her palms on her knees, tipping back and looking at the artificial sky. She closed her eyes in a 'not now mother' expression.

"Today of all days, just when I had made up my mind to do it..." A self-defeating comment if there ever was one.

Her mother tutted and sighed, but continued to stand in front of her daughter, arms folded behind her back while standing straight and tall. The old habits of a military woman did not die easily, despite a nice, tidy desk job as an ambassador's assistant. Despite her mother's face being cloaked in shadow, Tori could feel that familiar scorn of her 'Major' face. Military habits definitely did die hard. She found herself squirming beneath its invisible power. Tori's mother understood her daughter's strange obsession, the one-sided rivalry she held with Jane Shepard. All created because of what happened on those N7 tests - the military training that marked the best marines within humanity.

Peeking open a hazel eye, Tori caught that look briefly before it melted and Mother Shaw softly remarked, "Want a hug?"

It was teasingly spoken, knowing full well her grown daughter would shun the display. To her surprise, Tori meekly nodded and slid across the bench, making space for two. Safely tucked in her mother's arms, she rested her head on her chest and sighed again, this time with a smile planted firmly on her oval face. Tori was content.

"It will be okay, Angel" her mother cooed softly as she caressed a single lock of black between forefinger and thumb. Tori tried her best to smother the creeping protest rising in her throat at that embarrassing little pet name her mother had been using on her for as long as she could remember. Her mother's calm tones pushed on, soothing her even more.

"Just remember, no matter what happens, me and your father, we will always be proud of you. And I will always support any choice you make." The elder Shaw woman's voice broke at the mention of her lost husband. Tori broke from her mother's embrace to see her wipe away tears that hadn't fallen. She now gave her mother a true hug.

For so many years it had just been the two of them against the universe. Her father was killed in action during the brief but traumatic First Contact War, leaving a grieving woman with her little girl. Tori was barely one. Her mother, a major in the Alliance, had settled for softer duties to raise her child on a ship but the turians kept coming. Her mother resigned shortly after peace was established, claiming space was 'not the place to raise a child.'

She admitted to Tori much later that she was rife with grief. She could not risk losing her daughter as well as her husband and despite missing the Alliance, she had never regretted the decision. Tori often wondered if the man that she only came to know through her mother's stories and the photo that sat in their house would approve of her life choices.

Joining the marines, then going to for N7 Training, now longing to sign up with C-Sec. Tori knew her mother was apprehensive of her only child to fling herself in harm's way, but the woman was so dutiful she would make any member of the turian race feel ashamed. So with unwilling eyes, she always agreed to every adventure Tori managed to get herself-signed up for. Her thoughts were disturbed when her mother broke away from the hug and forced on a happier demeanour.

"Well, we can't have you attempting to join C-Sec without this now, can we?" She grinned and passed her daughter a datapad, which had earlier gone unnoticed.

Reading it over, Tori's eyes suddenly went wide. "Mum! How did you ever manage to get this?"

Shock and awe were both on her face as well as in her voice as she noticed the two much esteemed names on her recommendations. Her mother looked pleased with herself and playfully patted her shortly cropped hair as if preening herself.

"This old girl still has her charms!" she replied with a laugh, before patting her child on her back, encouraging her to go.

Tori couldn't believe her luck. Her mother worked for Ambassador Udina; a shrill man but a brilliant politician, he manoeuvred the politics and bureaucracy of the Citadel with such ease and grace that it would make any Asari dancer, look like a lumbering elcor. And Admiral Kahoku, a respected man, honoured in battle and reputation. If their names came across your desk it meant ignoring their recommendations would spell trouble, lots of trouble.

"Now, hurry up before Shepard does something else to derail you, like abolishing the need for C-Sec altogether!"

More playful tones from her mother, but appreciated all the same, if Tori's grin could establish anything about it. With both data pads in hand, she grabbed the hair tie off her wrist and put her tresses in a bun. Then she set off with a steady jog to the Lower Wards to finally carve her own place in the universe, as far away from Commander Shepard as she could muster.


	2. Between an Executor and A Hard Place

It was an incredibly rare thing for an application to ever cross his desk, especially a human application. Those were discreetly filed away never to see the light of day again.

Humans, the brash, child-like race that seemed to want their many fingers in every over-ripe fruit they could lay their sticky hands on. But this application, this one - how did the humans put it - "cut the cake"? Crude, but an effective saying, even for them.

Venari Pallin swiped a dextrous finger over the screen, flicking through the pages. The application itself, the field test reports, psychiatric report and finally the recommendations. Signed by Ambassador Udina and Admiral Kahoku no less, both thorns in his side. It was a perfect set up, almost too perfect, but the female it belonged to stood in front of him, smartly dressed in a high-collared tunic, coloured in subtle black, grey and white. The N7 badge was proudly stitched above her heart.

He looked her up and down slowly, searching for faults, flaws, chinks in the military determination and formality she was holding on to her features. But he couldn't find anything. Her at-attention stance was flawless, even by turian standards. Her eyes were settled on the wall behind him, just slightly above his head, unwavering in absolution. She could not stand any straighter even if they laid her up against a wall. Every strand on that keratin-filled head of hers was smoothed over into - what did the humans call it - a 'bun'? A low, snarling rumble developed in his chest, thick with displeasure as he failed to find anything out of place.

He turned his unscrupulous gaze back down to the datapad and flicked through it. 'All that is diamond does not glitter' he thought, hoping that despite the unsullied surface perhaps there was something else that he could dismiss her on.

_-Victoria "Tori" Shaw – Applicant insisted on not being called 'Victoria' – Age 27, Born 11th February 2156 (Earth Calendar)-_

It was the first thing his blue eyes set upon, which wasn't much but it was a start.

"Victoria Shaw…" he started in a relaxed but formal turian drawl, flicking up his eyes from the words to her face to see the response. There was nothing, not a flinch or a blink. The girl was practically elcor in her mannerisms. His nose bunched up higher on his plated face in disappointment that it would take a little more effort to crack this one. He turned his angular head to the application.

-Applicant was born on the SSV Diamantia, Alliance Carrier, mother, Major Bethany Shaw; father Staff Commander Peter Shaw-

"Says here that you were born on the SSV Diamantia, an Alliance ship, correct?" he asked, knowing full well what the answer was, but it was her cue to start talking. He placed the datapad on the table and intertwined his three fingers, propping them up with his elbows.

"That is correct, Executor Pallin, I-" She paused and for a moment he saw a flicker of doubt in those hazel eyes before she continued. "Mother and Father were both Alliance, Sir. Mother was Major Bethany Shaw, father Staff Commander Peter Shaw."

-Applicant, lost a parent (father) during the Relay 314 incident, mother quit the Alliance soon after-

"But your mother left, not long after you were born?"

"Correct, Sir."

"Why?"

"My mother didn't want to raise her child in space, Sir, we settled on Horizon."

"Ah yes, it says the space station your mother was serving on was a target during the Relay 314 incident but peace was established before the mission was carried out." Would she make the fatal error in correcting him in his terminology? Venari knew the humans called the conflict with his species the 'First Contact War', but it wasn't a first contact for the turians. It was a pompous name for a war, typically human in nature.

"That is right, Sir." Much to his disappointment, she didn't correct him.

-Applicant speaks with fondness at the memory of her father, although claims to know nothing about him, aside from the holograph her mother keep and tales she was told growing up-

"Do you consider your father a hero, Victoria Shaw?"

For a moment Venari could have sworn that he saw her eyes narrow and open as quickly as they squinted. Was that a suppression of a flinch? Perhaps she was fighting a frown?

"After his death, he was awarded medals of heroism," she stated matter-of-factly. She was sharp; he had to give her credit for that.

"Not what I asked, Miss Shaw. I asked if you thought your father was a hero."

She was quiet for a moment, before she snapped her eyes off the space above his head and met him dead in the eye, a small smile forming on her lips. "What little girl doesn't think her daddy is a hero, Sir?"

Her smile grew before she moved her gaze back to the space above his head, features returning to their stoic position.

Pallin's mandibles spread wide as he gave a turian grin at her. Well, that was interesting. Nearly everyone and their pet varren seemed to have some kind of father issue, but not this one, it seemed. He was done delving into that part of her life, now moving on to the main reason she bothered him.

-Applicant enlisted at the age of eighteen to serve with the Alliance military - background records show that she had an impeccable career and a promising one, but left suddenly after N7 training. Applicant refuses to go into detail about the reason why-

"Let me get this right, you joined the Alliance, went through their most rigorous and selective training process, then left? Care to tell me why?"

He seemed to be baiting her with every question. He was not friendly, branching on rude, but that was almost hidden behind his professionalism. She was silent for a few moments, much longer than before, Venari noted. Obviously carefully considering her answer, perhaps considering lying to him? But her fleshy little mouth came out with her answers before the air became tense and uncomfortable.

"Because humanity is part of a galactic community now, Sir. It's about time we took part in that community, so I came here with hopes to serve it."

"That's why you chose C-Sec?"

"With all my military training I would make a lousy shop clerk, Sir" she replied. The side of her mouth was pulled upwards in a weird lopsided smile. Was she making a joke?

"Surely you don't expect me to believe that you left your flowering military career just to play cops and robbers?"

She said nothing, neither denying nor accepting his assumption. It was a good skill to have, pretending to be a blank slate. Let the others lay against you whatever assumption they had about your person, as long as they didn't interfere with your job. Had she been a turian, this meeting wouldn't have happened and he would have another faithful officer on the force.

"Victoria?" he pushed; wanting to get at the reason the psychiatric did not manage to get from her. Pallin had heard once that there was a human saying: 'the eyes are like windows to the soul'. Whether or not the soul's existence could be denied or confirmed was another debate for another day, but they certainly gave away a liar. "So tell me, what happened, why did you leave the Alliance to become a C-Sec officer?"

Her right eye squinted just a tiny fraction, her pupils constricted. "Nothing, Sir," she answered blandly.

Ha! He had her; she was lying to him. Venari sat up bolt in his chair but before he could accuse her or anything she pressed on, finishing her answer.

"Nothing that is worth mentioning, anyway. I left of my own accord, Sir." The human, Victoria, wasn't lying then. He sunk just a little in disappointment. Whatever her secret was, it was a dead lead. It was most likely something stupid, like she had a falling out with her human mate and decided that she couldn't be near him.

"You have to admit, Victoria, it's all very interesting. Shepard gets made into a Spectre and suddenly you want to be a C-Sec officer?"

She flinched. It was there, all out in the open. Her eyes raw with emotion, she wavered, struggling to hold her demeanour. No certainly it couldn't be… Shepard?

"You and Shepard did N7 training together?"

"Correct, Sir."

"What happened?"

"Classified, Sir…however, if you want the report, I'm sure the Alliance would be more than accommodating enough to send it to you."

I bet they would, Venari thought, watching her compose herself, withdrawing inwardly. So, this human has some ill feelings towards the gallant Commander Shepard. Untamed and set loose on the galaxy, with all her human habits. But it was time to move on.

-Applicant speaks of some difficulties coming from being a biotic child, growing up on Horizon. Confidence with which she speaks about it seems to come from acceptance and philosophy from her parent (mother)-

"So you are a biotic?"

Venari didn't trust biotics. Anyone with the power to manipulate dark matter and the mass content of space and time was to be held at arm's length, and then some. People shouldn't glow blue, make things heavier or lighter. It wasn't natural and it made his stomach turn.

"So are the asari, Sir."

"Yes, but that is common for their species. The Alliance makes it very clear on how proud they are to have biotics serve with them; surely they wouldn't let you go so easily."

"That is correct, Sir, they didn't. They offered me a promotion, a pay rise, even some newly acquired tech for me to try out but the Alliance wasn't for me. They finally accepted my resignation and I left."

Venari snorted; a likely story. Who turned down a pay rise and promotion? As far as his experience had taught him, humans were selfish creatures, motivated by money rather than duty and honour. Their society was the one driven by the wealth and status it brought.

Overall applicant showed willingness to answer all questions as thoroughly as necessary, clean cut appearance. Deemed suitable for C-Sec training. No concerns otherwise. Deemed sound of mind-

Her answers, as good as they were, did not satisfy him. She looked too perfect on paper; her answers were accommodating and executed perfectly, as if they were rehearsed. His gut told him she wasn't to be trusted, but he couldn't place his finger on what it was. But with Udina and Kahoku at her back, he couldn't just discard her either, not without some kind of political backlash.

This would require some other tactic, to find out what the Alliance was up to… with this piece of prime, fleshy meat. It just so happened to wander here in front of him. It was all too circumstantial and Venari Pallin never believed in circumstance.

"Very well, Victoria Shaw. Report to the Academy in the lower wards in the morning; if you pass training, we will see what kind of service you can offer to the Citadel."

For a moment she did not move, but her facial muscles relaxed, removing the stoic military expression she had been hiding behind the entire meeting. Her features softened, her eyebrows rose, she looked almost surprised.

"Dismissed, cadet," he reaffirmed. Suddenly she hardened up, nodded, saluted and walked out of the room briskly.

Before he could even concoct a plan, Pallin was interrupted by the sound of feet jumping up and down, clapping with sounds of joy that humans make sometimes. Surely she isn't celebrating right outside his door? Doesn't she know turians have better hearing that her species could ever hope for?

"Mother!" he heard though the metal, "I start training tomorrow"

She squealed. An unpleasant noise, like any other their fleshy breed seemed to make. It stopped; she obviously calmed down and left. Venari shook his head. This facade could not go on longer than needed. Closing his eyes in quiet contemplation, one finger curled at his maw while his other hand rapped on the solid surface of his desk.

His mind ran over the meeting with the human female. He could not shake the sour feeling in his gut. If he mentioned it to anyone, they would go as far as to call him a xenophobe. True, he didn't like the humans but it wasn't just because they were 'human'. It was their manner, their actions. They were so young, but thought they deserved the same respect and status as species that had been on the Citadel for millennia. They were thoughtless, brash, controlled by their emotions. That was a dangerous thing.

Venari needed someone he could trust, someone to stick by her, find out why she was here and why it seemingly looked like the Alliance put her here. There were few people with the skills he needed, few he could invest his trust in enough to place there. Apart from…

"Ah…" he said quietly to himself. He knew just the turian.

Reaching for his omni-tool, he started writing a message to Sparatus, the turian councillor. He owed him quite a few favours, so this wouldn't be too hard to pull off.

-Sparatus,

Those Citadel pets are pushing where they shouldn't be,

I need my nephew to handle this.

Get the Hierarchy and Primarch on vid-com ASAP.

Pallin.-


	3. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Chapter 3 – Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Leaning against the large window that made the observation deck above the C-Sec cafeteria, arms folded, legs crossed like he didn't have a care in the universe in that moment, Titus leered down, with blazing violaceous eyes. He watched the troops move about at lunch in their territorial groups. The enforcement sat with their own, as did investigations, customs, network, and special response and patrol groups. But what was more interesting, they were even more divided than that. They also sat in their species group. A few more brazen of the Turian men chatted and flirted with the Asari of their division. But these were no meek maids; these were hardened, commandos. And usually knew how to put down a Turian male gently, or not so gently.

Then there were the Salarian's, who normally seemed more comfortable in customs, investigations or network divisions than being an actual ground troop. They usually bumbled together no matter what their division.

Then there was the tiny group of Humans, sat in the corner seemingly nervous amongst large groups of other species. They whispered, keeping to themselves. Then there was her, sitting in the middle of them all, alone with a table all for herself. A single foot tucked up beneath, her datapad in one hand, spearing her green leafy food with the other, seemingly oblivious to everyone around her and the disapproving glances from all, even her own kind. As if she had a world of her own, where she didn't care about anyone else.

How were they supposed to keep the peace and unite the Galaxy, when even at their own tables in their own offices were split, he wondered?

The doors behind him opened with a familiar hiss before he heard just as familiar flanging tones greeting him. "Titus" Turning his head he spied his uncle, who gave him a salute as was customary when meeting someone who was higher than you in station.

"Uncle Venari" Titus replied back calmly, with a low and a respectful bow of his head. But not with the same formality. He didn't care for these type of things much; his uncle was his elder and would always be so no matter how high Titus had climbed in status.

"How was your journey?" Pallin asked facing his nephew; arms folded behind his back, back straight, not at ease with his family member at all. It disappointed the young Turian slightly, it had been so long since they had seen each other last, he hoped for a little more of a reunion. "Fine" Titus replied as blandly.

An awkward silence passed between the two men for a moment. Titus didn't know what to say and it seemed his uncle didn't know either. But he stared at him intently with a hidden burning passion. "I guess you will want to know why you are here." Venari said finally, breaking the silence.

Titus nodded his head. "If you could. The hierarchy was pretty cryptic in their mission brief"

"As they should be" Venari snorted, turning his attention to the cafeteria. "It's that human female you were staring so curiously at."

Spirits, his uncle was observant... but then again, hunter by name, hunter by nature.

"She is one of our newest recruits."

"The hierarchy shipped me all the way here to babysit your new recruit?" He questioned the subvocals of his voice displaying a little annoyance. He couldn't help thinking that a babysitting task was way beneath him. Not with all the things he had left unfinished back on Palaven.

His uncle gnarled low and deep in his chest for a moment, warning Titus this was no joking matter.

"That new recruit has raised a lot of concerns" Venari said in tones gravely and dangerous.

Titus moved his frontal lobe plates so one was raised excessively above the other". "Oh? She doesn't look at all that dangerous" Was all he managed to spit out without it being laden with any more annoyance.

"Victoria Shaw -She is an ex-Alliance, a N7 and a biotic, has left a promising career behind her to come slum it out in the Lower Wards."

Titus withheld a look like he wasn't convinced about how the little squishy female had created such a big security alert. Big enough that it meant shipping one of their best to the Citadel to keep tabs on her. "Explain?"

"Think about it for just a moment. The Humans' young and brightest rising star quits and she just so happens to wander here to the Citadel? Things between the Humans and us have always been strained politically, but now they're pushing harder and faster to raise their status. Consider this, there are more Turians here than any other job. All well connected within the hierarchy, an easy source to get information from. Not to mention the two biggest Human names here on the Citadel, have backed her. Not to mention that she has signed up right after that Spectre got her big promotion. I don't believe in coincidences. I believe that she has been planted here."

"I see..." Titus said taking in the bulk of information he was just given. It made sense and he couldn't deny that. But it still did seem a little far-fetched.

"Uncle" it was cautiously spoken, not wanting to upset the old man. "You don't think you are overthinking it, maybe just a little?" His mother has always gone about how her elder brother was on the brink of obsession with the spreading and dominance of the Human race. Especially after the Relay 314 incident. But Titus had never really witnessed it. After his mother had remarried into his father's wealthier and more prestigious clan, his uncle and mother had one last argument about it and never spoke about that again. Then again, they didn't talk much since her marriage, as birthing a Cato offspring carried a large amount of stigma in the Turian society.

He could see his uncle eyeing the unsymmetrical black stripes with their flashes of gold on his face; there was a bit of admiration in his stare and a bit of disgust. Most treated the Cato clan like this. Titus had had a lifetime of being looked down upon, not only for the bold and somewhat ostentatious marks on his face. But also because he was... different.

While most Turians were pale plated, Titus was devoid of all coloration, from his face to his neck, even his body was white. Albinism, they called it. It also meant that his plates were softer, prone to cracking and snapping. A single stem of his crest was missing, a proof of his weakness. Lost during a friendly spar with a colleague.

He was not a fan of hand-to-hand combat and avoided it, if it was possible. Of course, he could have cosmetic surgery to correct these faults, but Titus like his battle scars. It was a memory, a lesson learned. The metallic sheen that most Turians had, Titus was lacking as well. Although, some of it was still there. It meant growing up on Palaven had been difficult, radiation suits in the warmer seasons and creams in the colder ones. His eyesight was poor, to describe it at best - bright light crippled him, turning his striking violet eyes a deeper blue and blinding him from targets almost completely. Of course, he had some cybernetics to improve it, since it was realised he was the worst Turian shot on the force; his shooting had got a little bit better after that. The military had even offered to replace them all together.

But his mother said she loved his eyes, so he kept them for her and adapted, yet another battle to fight through. And if all went to hell, he had his visor, custom Sentry interface, fused to the side of his face that he could click on the dark-blue tinted screen, filtering light spectrum and using infrared if needed. He had got so used to seeing the world in the colours of heat or in electrical pulses, it was a useful thing for a nearly blind Turian.

Being a freak meant he was singled-out at every opportunity, abused and degraded. Perhaps that was why he managed to spot the woman sitting alone in the cafeteria, before he knew that she was the reason he was standing here. Because just like him, she was alienated and lonely. Titus had spent his entire life fighting battles to show he was worth as much, or perhaps even more than the average Turian. But being unmistakable in a line-up had his benefits, spirits be praised. It meant his actions never went unnoticed. He climbed the ranks steadily till it untill now that he was a Major in his own right. He had not let down his proud Cato name.

But orders were orders, and his came from the very top of command. He would not fail his people or his uncle. The Cato code demanded it of him. At least for a while he could have good food and a nice soft bed for a change. "I'll see what I can find out about her…" He replied in cold tones that announced he would start his mission immediately.

That seemed to appease his uncle, who nodded with appreciation at the gesture of readiness. "I'm glad, there is no one I trust more than you Titus. You are intelligent, subtle and not a bad shot with a gun." There was a pause. "We-ell" Pallin continued, oblivious to a gloomy look from his nephew. "At least in the darkness. Well, not total darkness, obviously. The dusk. Or dawn. Well, you know. When there's not that much light…" he coughed and continued. "Not forgetting you know C-Sec and how we go about things. Your old rank of a Captain is available to you, because starting from now on; you're her partner. Make it seem like you're here to guide her. You go wherever she goes, I don't want one aspect of her life where you're not there gone unnoticed by you. I need this- Palaven needs this, Titus..." His uncle seemed to pause, unsure of the words that lingered in his mouth. "I'm glad you're here... Do you understand?"

Titus looked back at the female still spearing her salad, still oblivious about the Turian forces conspiring against her. In a way he felt some sympathy for her. So she was just a balanti* in amongst a pack of venatori**. It was his job to befriend and mimic her, let her know that she had an ally amongst the pack of predators, even though this 'ally' was only wearing the prey's clothing.

"Perfectly" he said.

His uncle nodded and started to walk the opposite direction from where he came, "I'll make her files available to you" he said calling back and shaking his hand dismissively. With that his uncle left Titus to stare at her for a little longer before turning and making his way down to the changing room. He suddenly noticed that he had a headache; yeah, this mission was certainly going to be one.

Once stripped out of his civvies into the way too familiar blacks-and-blues of a Turian C-Sec uniform, his mind started to wonder - how long had it been since he had donned this? It felt like a lifetime ago. He walked into the cafeteria and nodded his head in a greeting at a few familiar faces, which instantly noticed him and hushed whispers excitedly spread his reputation about.

"Wow! That's Major Titus Cato!"

"Yeah the Albino, I heard about him, I hear he smashed an entire Batarian slave empire single-handedly."

But it wasn't long before more negative comments started flowing.

"What's he doing back here?"

"Who knows... perhaps he got dismissed from the military, don't blame him, he's a freak of nature, most likely got to big for his Cato boots. But what can you expect from an albino... he should just know his place-OW!"

There was a sudden yelp from the Turian talking trash about him. Titus turned his head, to see that poor male, rubbing his shin.

"I-I think someone kicked me." He whined, while his companion snickered. "Seems like the Ghost walker is about."

Ghost walker? Hmm, that was a new name, but he certainly had a feeling who it could have been- that didn't matter right now. His goal was firmly placed on the woman sitting alone.

How was he going to handle this? She wasn't an easy person to read and his uncle gave no indications on her personality. So Titus decided to just be himself. Putting his leg up on the bench and leaning on his risen knee, he bent over her.

"Officer Shaw?" he enquired and she flicked her golden eyes, up at him. It almost derailed his train of thought; he wasn't expecting someone so small to hold such a predatory gaze. She was no meek balanti*.

"Cato, Titus Cato" he said thrusting out his hand for her to shake. It was a weird Human custom, highly unsanitary, but he took pride in the fact he knew it. But she kept those golden eyes on him; briefly, she took those eyes off his gaze and slid them down to his hand before going back up to his face. Not even looking, she speared something red in her bowl and ate it, not taking his hand to shake…

Well this wasn't awkward or uncomfortable at all. "Your, new partner" He mumbled, dropping his hand and then rubbing the back of his neck, clearly hearing the laughter of some of his fellow Turians behind him and the low whispers from the humans in the corner. Being partly blind had its benefits; it meant that his other senses compensated although not always to his advantage. 'Who does that Albino think he is?' and 'Does he think he's Casanova?' and finally 'Smooth moves…' which actually made him feel a little better.

It was then that he noticed a little sparkle in her eyes, she was smiling from there. Victoria had obviously heard the comments. Had she done this to entice them? He suddenly felt very foolish and a little angry, that she had the audacity to play him like that. Titus wasn't going to let it sway him.

Especially when she finally spoke. "I don't know why I need a partner, I'm only walking the Presidium, the rookie route." She said before turning her gaze off him and back on her datapad, her tone rude and dismissive.

More awkward silence passed between them, as he waited for her to say something else, but she did not. He kind of understood why this woman was sat alone, she was Batarian unfriendly. Someone who didn't trust you to watch their six.

"Well, you know, sometimes those keepers, start it" He said eventually, his mandibles spreading slightly in a small smile. Trying to lighten the mood; he needed her to start trusting him.

Victoria laughed now, briefly, but at least she did it, setting her datapad down and folding her arms "Is there a reason why you are interrupting my working lunch?"

Spirits, this woman could intimidate a charging Krogan! Where did she learn to be commanding like that, it was unnatural for a rookie? Usually they were so eager to please and so happy to be spoken too, but not this woman. "I just wanted to introduce myself, officer" He said in a growling tone, growing quickly frustrated with her.

"Is that question or a statement, officer?" she retorted, her eyes still smiling, even if her mouth did not. She was trying her best to make him squirm, like some worm beneath her boots. But he had suffered worse, this was nothing.

"Captain, actually. I think I have some reports, to do- one being your assessment of your progress here in C-Sec" he riposted, lowering his leg and taking a step backwards, eyes narrowed in displeasure. Suddenly her eyes went wide, realising the foolish error she had made insulting her superior officer. She said nothing in response her head hung down low, avoiding seeing him altogether. She was ashamed, drenched in it. Good, Titus thought. Served her right.

Turning on the balls of his feet, he made his way back towards the door he had entered through. He didn't look around; some primal part of his brain told him not to do so, or else he would loose the dominance altogether. Still, he couldn't help but feel tense all over. A tiny part of him didn't want to admit that he had met a worthy opponent, capable in her wits enough to nearly make the Turian, who never retreats, back away.

He wanted to have as much material space between him and her right now.

He was just about to the leave scene behind him when an old familiar, but oh, so welcomed voice teased him from the right

"Aw, did the ickle Human hurt the big, bad Turian's pride?" Those tones, both feminine and masculine; there was only one mono-gendered creature in the whole universe, who would tease him like that.

"Leiada" Titus hissed, subvocal's singing in playfulness, as he whipped around to his right looking for the figure where that voice came from. Damn her and that infiltrator suit! The eccentric Asari, who walked around almost invisible, popping out from unexpected places. She loved to sneak about. It was a little strange, but it was well associated with her. Her rank was not as official as his uncle was, but she was so experienced, they made one up for her and few knew about it. She did as she pleased; even Pallin shied away from chastising her. Titus had only seen it done once and it ended up with Leiada giving his uncle a long, cold stare that screamed 'I will murder you in your sleep', before poking out her tongue and telling his uncle to fuck off.

If Titus remembered correctly, his uncle didn't sleep soundly for a month after that.

Leiada was always heard, but never seen. Despite being discreet and passing through the halls of C-Sec seemingly invisible and separated, she commanded presence. If Leiada was butting her nose in your business, you better walk away with her advise, for it was going to save your life.

It used to put him on edge when he was green and untested. Her favourite games included but didn't limit to, popping out of from underneath the desk, in the male shower room, back of the squad car… to scream 'boo'.

But he had learnt a long time ago, that if you watched carefully enough, you could see those cloaked people move, the world shifting and distorting about them like in a hall of mirrors.

There, beside the edge of the door he saw something shift, his eyes homed and narrowed in and he swung his arm in that direction. His gloved hands slammed into the metal with a subdued thud, which made the room fall into a stunned silence. There was a very distinct form of laughter from an unknown source, which in term made Titus laugh, but the tension did not die in the air, not until the Asari huntress decloaked and pushed the Turian's paw from her throat. They stood there for a moment, eyes bright with warm smiles.

They both took in each other's appearance. They were clearly old friends and this display of sudden violence was a game, part of a bigger inside joke, the tension died and the room once again bustled with its usual murmur of conversations.

Taking his old friend by the arm and led her out all the same. He could tell from the piercing way her blue eyes were staring at him, she was dying to ask him a million questions. Despite being well into her Matron years, the second life stage of the Asari, if he remembered correctly, Leiada was not one wanting to settle down, and still carried herself with the brash recklessness of her Maidenhood. Titus held a suspicion that this was why she had never returned to Thessia and remained here at C-Sec, but he didn't know the details of things that led her to this situation her past was locked away in secrecy.

"Hey, T.C" she said as she drew her eyes from his legs to his face, a smirk on her face as she shifted weight to her hip.

'It's a trap' he reminded himself as he appreciated her form with equal measure. Despite the pleasing, exotic dancer shape of the Asari in front of him, he knew better than anyone that this huntress was no more soft and feminine than he was a Hanar's uncle.

"Lei" he drawled out long and hard, turning his head to the side to look at her with one eye, knowing fully well she hated that nickname and anyone brazen enough found a hardened fist to the face. It had been her who had snapped his crest. His mandibles drew wide as he recalled the memory; it had been a good night that night. "Ghostwalker, huh? That's a new one."

"Shut your mouth T.C! Only because I haven't seen you in forever, I'll spare you the trip to the med bay" she restated bemused. "And don't thank me for that idiot I kicked. He got it coming."

Leiada was a deadly warrior, skilled in infiltration; she worked meticulously and almost without regard for the safety of her victims. Spirits bless the names that crossed her desk, she always got her man.

The Asari made the finest warriors in the Galaxy; Leiada was proof of that, fortunately there were not many of them. He laughed heartily, suddenly relieved to see a friendly face, his not so pleasant encounter with the Human recruit washing away.

Once out of earshot she shrugged free her arm from his grasp and leaned up against the wall, folding her arms and with a look of smugness in her eyes. A look that he couldn't quite place the meaning of.

"Don't worry about the ice princess in there… She does that to all the males; she got a hard time her first few days, from the Human fetish fanatics and the Humans" she said, and a groan echoed in Titus' chest, bringing back that awkward and horrible encounter. But before he could stop her, Leiada continued "Can't say I blame them, she's stunning, fills out that uniform in all the right places." She said with a dreamy smile across her face and a grin hinting at the images flashing across her mind. He answered solely with a laugh "Can't say I noticed."

"Huh, sure! Come on, T.C, you're not even a little bit curious to see what the human flavour can do?" She teased, pushing the subject.

Titus was a little more relaxed than other Turian's, mainly due to the poor company he kept on the Citadel - that company mainly being Leiada…and the fact a freak was not deemed suitable for mating, in case he passed on his deformity. Still, he never really found Humans that attractive, mainly cause his imagination didn't lead to a scenario where the Human participating didn't end up horribly maimed and him having a serious allergic reaction. Titus was allergic to his own kind's food; he couldn't imagine what throwing unsuitable alien bodily fluids would do to him. "If I find one I like I'll let you know" he threw back at Lei, which just made her smile wider spread.

"Well, there is the ice princess and you'll be spending sooo much time together" This Asari was relentless. "Who knows?" she said with a shrug "Your smooth charms and rugged good looks might even make her melt."

He rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms trying to move this conversation as far from that subject as possible. "I'm sure there is a rule that forbids fraternising with other officers," he said in his best officer voice, which made Leiada grin even more, that he could see her white, blunt teeth and mischief twinkling in her eyes. "That never stopped us T.C," she stated in soft, sultry tones. Ah, he wondered when this would come up.

She was younger, he was young, and they really had nothing in common apart from liking to bait each other as much as possible, which was only because of the sexual tension between them. It wasn't a relationship, just two C-Sec officers too busy to find something else. It eventually fizzled out, but they remained on good terms, perhaps better terms than he imagined, if his body language skills were anything to go on by. He stepped a little closer, bending down so his eye level was a little closer to hers. "Well you are a very special Asari, more durable" he taunted back, drawling long and hard over the key words.

She laughed and punched him on the shoulder, pushing him back "Goddess, you make me sound like an M15 Vindicator!"

His mandibles flared wide, he couldn't believe she walked right into that one. "Yeah, why not? Old, reliable, pierces through armour, makes a lot of noise… Sounds about right!"

Leiada flushed a deeper shade of blue in her face, in anger more than embarrassment. "Who are you calling old, T.C!" she seethed.

Raising his hands in defence he laughed. "Ok, ok, calm yourself, Lei, I'm not looking for a one-way trip to the morgue!" The Asari seemed to become restful at that, her pride soothed by him reminding that she could easily turn him into a smoking crater.

Things became peaceful now, Leiada seemed more relaxed. "So…" she said quietly, her eyes flicking about to make sure they were alone. "What happened to your big fancy job in on Palaven? I heard you were doing well there. Now, I am curious about why you had to drag your sorry ass back here?" she stared up at him, with inquisitive eyes, but he had a feeling she already knew, she always knew. Despite her playful charms, Leiada was the best at finding out everyone's dirty little secrets. She was sharp and intelligent; all her long years of life had shaped her into cunning and wise woman beneath the playful badass she liked to act like she was.

"Classified" he said quickly, looking away from her, but Titus saw her slink away from the wall, fluid in her movements, like running water.

"Pretty fancy way to say 'mind your own business'" she joked, but wasn't going to push the subject further. Not yet. "Well, I'm sure it's to do with your pairing with the Ice Princess. Good luck with that one, seriously" She said waving him off, that familiar sway of her hips, before she turned her cloak back on and vanished out of sight. What a strange Asari she was, he would never get used to that.

Looking back at the door that led to the cafeteria, Titus had a strong feeling that he would need all that luck she wished him. Spirits help him.


	4. Biotic to Biotic

**Chapter 4 - Biotic to Biotic**

* * *

**A/N - Thank you to my beta Sorceress Nadira. Bioware own the universe. More detailed notes on my tumblr, link found in my profile.**

Leiada couldn't believe her eyes as she watched the two over the last few weeks. Painful, the only way to describe it, was painful. T.C had tried almost every method to get the ice princess to warm to him. He tried flirting, joking, and being clumsy, acting helpless and being overprotective. Watching him stand over her, helping her learn the tricks he picked up in his time with C-Sec was somewhat adorable. His tall height overshadowed her. She barely came up to his neck.

Every move in his Turian book of how to get someone to talk to you had been tried, tested and rejected. The Human didn't react to anything; she was so shut off from him. She reacted to others better. But only just.

But at this point, he'd given up altogether and just stood next to her as if she wasn't there. The most the two of them had ever said to each other was: 'Hey, there is this thing that needs investigating at some place' and then the other would say: 'Alright, let's move out.' They would then come back and fill out their individual paperwork and go home.

'Enough.'

The Huntress thought, they needed to communicate better than that. While they were walking the rookie routes it was ok. There was nothing out there, but a usual drunk or two. Or a lost tourist, if you were lucky. But once she got moved down to the nitty-gritty Zakera Ward they would both need someone to watch there six and T.C should have known better.

It was late; most had gone home. Just the odd few 'death shift' workers were left. Or those that didn't fill out their paperwork as soon as they got it. Wandering among the lines of desks, she spotted just the Turian she was just looking for. As ever she was invisible and started to sneak up on him. He was hunched over his desk, his forehead pressed into his smooth hand. Titus was thumping it lightly again and again against his frontal plates. Poor thing was clearly wracking his brain.

She perched herself on the edge of his desk, seemingly unnoticed and before she could shout 'BOO!',

He groaned and called her out.

"I know you're there, Leiada." His voiced was strained and seemingly tired. He turned his head and looked up at her face, met her in the eyes, despite not being able to see her.

Hmm, he had gotten pretty good at spotting her. Despite being as blind as he was of course.

Uncloaked, she rested her hands behind her and pouted a little. "Just because you're having a few bad days doesn't mean you have to spoil everyone else's fun." Being invisible and scaring the wits out of everyone was fun for her, Pallin as her favourite target, but only because he got so flustered. It was a distraction from her troubles, she was barely 340 and already her bones were tired from living...

Snorting, he turned away from her and resumed tapping his head. "I'm not in the mood for your shit tonight, okay?"

He looked so helpless; it was kinda heartbreaking to see him. Over six feet in height, the usual smooth talking Turian to be completely floored by a woman. And a human woman at that.

A woman who was just scared and a little out of her depth. Leiada could tell just by looking at the girl, seeing so many new recruits had its advantage. Tori had such a burning ambition and drive, but didn't quite know where to put it.

"Ice princess troubles?" Leiada enquired. She knew it was, what else could it be? She had spent the last two weeks watching them from the sidelines, but Titus didn't have to know that. He needed to vent and she was just the Asari for the job.

"Hmm something like that..." Titus grumbled. "She is on the brink of exploding. Frustrated mainly. Pallin has her still patrolling the Presidium. She wants to get down and get her hands dirty. From what I've observed, she wants so badly to prove herself, but she wouldn't share what it is she wants proven."

He finished with a sigh and turned his gaze to his Asari companion. His eyes, a pleasant and calm violet shade, telling her he was thankful she was there. The light grey skin around his eyes, that should have been black, but were pale because of his genetic condition. Were now dark with circles. He almost looked normal, like every other Turian.

"Well, I would just say your uncle is being his usual human-loving self." She trailed off, hinting at what everyone knew. Pallin didn't like humans. "But there is more too it, isn't there?" It wasn't unusual for Pallin to be harder on the human recruits, most quit when they realised they wouldn't get very far. Only the dedicated stuck around. And were eventually rewarded for their perseverance. Strangely they were all male.

Titus remained silent for a moment, obviously milling over whether or not he should share his objective with her. He was so blatant when he was thinking things over. To her disappointment he decided against it. "I think he wants her to crack, blow up, get kicked off the force for misconduct. Seriously, Lei, she was a shred of willpower away from ripping this Earthling tourist limb from limb. For just harassing a keeper. I've never seen biotic power rip over a body like wildfire... I told her to go to the gym and burn off the excess energy."

"Ah" The huntress replied. While it was a noble gesture and the right advise. Leiada knew well the gym wasn't a challenge enough for biotics. She was certain the Human was not getting the burn-out she needed.

"Is she down there right now?"

Titus nodded, although it looked like he could barely move his head, using all his reserve energies to keep his body upward. Leiada wanted so badly to hug him, to cuddle him and tell him it would be all right. Instead, she petted him on the shoulder and hopped off his desk. "Come on T.C"

He frowned, mandibles bunched tight to his face, his multiple nasal bunched higher in protest. "Where are we going?" he scoffed, almost startled by the idea he would have to move.

Leiada grinned wide and nodded down the hall "To rescue a damsel in distress. Come on, you will want to watch this."

He followed a little reluctantly, although his steps were slow and heavy, as if he carried the fate of the Galaxy on his shoulders. The gym was almost quiet, apart from the exasperated gasps and grunts coming from the tiny woman in the corner - unleashing hell on an unfortunate bunching bag.

Titus suddenly stopped dead over the threshold. His gaze was, and he was determined not to continue any further. That was not a good sign, that not even Titus wanted to be close to the human woman presence... He was usually the most tolerant of Turians. This girl was heading to an early grave if she couldn't get him to watch her back. Criminals ate people like that for breakfast...

But Leiada did not push him, she knew better that to force it, although a little meddling from the resident Asari 'mother hen' wouldn't be unwarranted.

Leiada kept her distance as she watched Victoria land punches and kicks, but and she noticed the girl was doing something quite unusual. Occasionally, she would step away from the punching bag, lean down to rest her full body weight on one hand and, almost as if she was performing some sort of dance, make a twist with her body to land a kick on the bag.

Every time her feet were just about to connect with the bag, though, a biotic burst would shot from her feet, sweeping the bag away before it was touched. The human would then land back on her feet, ready to punch the bag with her fist, when it was coming at her.

That girl was applying biotics to human martial arts, therefore making it look almost like a traditional Asari technique... was that accidental? Were human biotics applying their skills to martial arts, because they were mimicking Asari or simply because they figured out it was the best use of their abilities?

She then, paused, take a deep breath; lowering her hands, palms facing outwards. She expelled that breath. Her right hand came across to her left; fingers extended; as she drew them across her arm and then chest, before making yet another fist to resume her assault.

Now that was definitely Asari martial arts... Where in the universe did she learn something like that? The long-lived matron knew they didn't teach that in Alliance boot camp. Victoria was quite graceful too, evidence that those moves had been practised for quite a time.

Victoria, was dressed in very little apart from a pair of tight-fitting leggings and a short sports bra. Her bronze-coloured skin shimmered with sweat, highlighting well-toned muscles beneath that velvet skin. Goddess, she was beautiful; but it wasn't the time to be distracted by pretty things that dangled in front of the Huntress. It was the time for action.

"Officer Shaw" Leiada called out firmly; Victoria paused for a moment to shoot her a look of acknowledgement. A few more kicks and punches were landed before the girl stopped, gripping the bag desperately to stop it from swinging on its antigravity bolt.

Her arms bent, as she pressed her forehead to the smooth fabric of the bag. She was trembling, T.C was right; the biotic energy in her was fit to burst. Telling mass effect field blue flicked along her arms. Proved it.

The human took a deep breath to compose herself, her chest not rising and falling smoothly, but shuddering at each millimetre. She turned her attention to her disrupter; auroral eyes announcing that Leiada was definitely unwelcome. However, despite her displeasure, she was quite respectful to her superior, this time...

"Officer E'leust. How can I be of service?" Arms behind her back, as she stood at attention. 'Oh dear child', Leiada thought, 'you are not fit to be any use to me.' She raised her hand, the universal symbol of "at ease".

"Actually, Officer Shaw, I think I could be of more use to you... and please, call me Leiada"

The girl nodded curtly in appreciation of the gesture, but sadly, she didn't accept it. "I don't know what you mean, Officer E'leust."

Goddess! The child was so hard-headed, but Leiada pushed through the outright disregard for the wreath of friendship she has just offered. She grinned hard, showing more teeth than she planned, jaw clenched tight. 'She is just a frightened child, and so tense' Leiada had to remind herself.

"Well, I see you're carrying a little biotic tension" A little bit of an understatement. "That needs to be burnt off. I offer you my experience; feel like a little spar? Perhaps a little get-to-know-you chat at the same time, you know, biotic to biotic."

The human women rolled her neck and then her shoulders, before shaking out her arms, biotic flames included. She nodded in agreement "Sure, couldn't hurt."

There was an ounce of desperation in those auroral eyes, the human knew fully well she couldn't continue another day like this.

Smiling and bowing her head in acceptance, Leiada pushed down her hood and crossed the mat. She stood opposite the trembling human in front of her.

"Rules?" Leiada offered generously. The Huntress saw a tiny sigh of appreciation expel from those shapely human lips.

"No tech, just outright biotics and contact to contact?" Victoria suggested before stretching out her legs and taking her position in front of Leiada.

Who was also crouching, legs stretched out one at a time, before stretching out her arms.

"Sounds good... So, ice princess, let's see what you've got." Leiada shot a glance in Titus' direction to see that down-founded, confused look that Turian's sometimes wore. It was hilarious the way their mandibles fluttered, noses tilted to the side, brow plates risen.

"Ice princess?" Victoria asked her, with a displeased hiss at the given nickname.

She came at Leiada like a bolt of lightning, fists glowing blue as she threw punches at the Asari. Little bits of blue flame flicked off the sweat that was dripping from her clenched hands. Leiada dodged them with ease, to the left then the right, catching the last one and pulling the girl forward, throwing her off balance a little and stepping to her side.

"Come on, ice princess, you can't be walking around like your shit doesn't stink, giving us all the cold shoulder- and not expect such a nickname in return!" She saw the girl dip down in that move Leiada had witnessed earlier, muscled leg alight with neon blue, looking for contact.

"But none of you know me!" Victoria protested, in more of whine than any other emotion.

Leiada jumped back a little, batting the foot, out the way and full circle. Victoria's leg round, watching the girl loose balance.

Leiada felt the familiar tingle of someone else's biotics kiss her skin. She hopped back again, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, laughing with anticipation. The ice princess looked less than pleased with the open mockery.

Leiada pointed her palms to the floor as she burst with biotic power, her blue eyes now stark white. Leiada; relied mostly on tech, but Asari had a natural affinity for biotics; despite her skills being incredibly rusty - they were strong, but only because of her age.

Victoria paused at that moment, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights, waiting for what would happen next. "Well, whose fault is that, hmm?" Leiada teased a half-cocked smile on her face. Gracefully, Leiada turned her wrists, so her palms faced the ceiling and gestured towards her. A few medicine balls that were scared around jumped to life and floated towards the siren calling them. With a flick of Leiada's fingers, three shot in Victoria's direction.

The first Victoria rolled out the way of. The second slammed into her stomach, announcing its contact with a wet sounding slap.

Leiada winced; well that must have stung- Victoria was haunched over on all fours, her arm across where the blow had landed, gasping for breath, winded. The third and final ball hurtled towards her.

Victoria looked up still in pain, but her eyes held a little more determination. As the third ball came close to her, a biotic bubble appeared about her and stretched out. The ball ricocheted off and crashed into a stand of weights.

"You don't know my story" The hand cradling her stomach rested on the mat, with determination. "You don't know a thing about me!" Shaking, wary of the Huntress, no perhaps wary of herself, Victoria pushed her self upwards, forcing herself to stand.

"Who are you to judge me!" Victoria seethed as she got back into fighting stance, fist clenched so tightly her knuckles were turning pale; good she was starting to get worked up, her stoic mask cast aside. Leiada assumed what she had witnessed was months of pent up emotion and everything proved she was right. There was only one way for those feelings to go now and that was out.

Leiada flicked her fingers again and the heavy balls began an assault on the bubble, shuddering down into it repetitively, testing its strength.

"Well, you can't blame people for their assumptions with the way you carrying on at work, disregarding your mentor and partner? Disrespecting those more experienced that you? Respect isn't given on a plate, it's earned!" Leiada said again, calmer now, her frustrations with the girl coming out as the balls hit down harder. Victoria had to hold out too [both] arms just to keep her biotic shield going. She had stamina; credit had to be given – that stamina would prove useful in coming assignments.

"What's so wrong, with me coming here doing my job and going home? I came here to make a difference, not to make friends!" The girl cried back, her voice weakening; a little desperation tinged it.

Ok that did it! Leiada was again angry now; her arm shot out to the weight stand that had been knocked over. Outstretched fingers clenched into a fist, before she flung that same fist in Victoria's direction. The weights, the metal stand, everything, flung themselves towards the human. There was no way her shield could stand such an impact. "What! You want to be another Harkin!?" Leiada hissed as her collective barrage came closer to making its neck-breaking speed connection.

Victoria's arms crossed at her chest, eyes closed tight, as she gathered up all her feelings in that moment. The Huntress was almost certain that the human was not too pleased about being compared to C-Sec biggest walking disgrace. Before the weights had a change to smash into Victoria, it happened.

An explosion of all that bottled emotion and stored biotic energy; it was beautiful and somewhat terrifying. It burst around the room like a star gone supernova, pushing Leiada back and flinging her telekinetic weapons around the room. A few of the weights smashed into the plastered walls, imbedding there. But that's not what caught Leiada's attention; no, it was the screaming of the women she was fighting. "So just because I come here, work and don't want to play in happy families... Tha-that makes me another Harkin!" Her breath was ragged; everything she had was in the blast, good. The time to strike was now.

Leiada pushed her weight to her back foot, the starting position for a biotic's favourite move for getting in nice and close. The Asari Huntress had neglected her biotics over the years. But this was like biotic class 101 all over again.

Leiada whipped across the distance between them in a trailing blue flash, slamming into Victoria, who had nothing more to give, biotically or physically, to defend herself. But the human had unexpectedly made a grab for the Huntress and they went tumbling across the floor, fighting for dominance.

Leiada won, her knees pinning down Victoria's outstretched arms, her hands pressed into the soft mats on either side of Victoria's head. Both breathing heavily, staring each other down.

But the girl wasn't done; she wasn't going down without a fight. She raised her knee and kicked hard, partly in Leiada's back, partly in her waist. Without thinking, the Asari swung her hand up and around smacking the girl in her forehead with stunning blow, like she was telling off a child. It surprised her as much as it surprised Victoria; the human's face was dazed, working out what had just happened.

Leiada was just as confused; why she didn't [WO] just plant a fist in the human's pointed nose...? But Victoria must have gathered her thoughts before the huntress did. Her legs flipped up to grab Leiada by the throat and get her off. It was one last ditch attempt for a win, but Leiada had decided long before she got here, that this girl needed to learn a lesson, one that her life counted on. The Asari grabbed her legs and lifted, holding her pinned in a wrestling grapple.

"Listen carefully. It's more than just a job to some of us; duty, honour, all that crap." Leiada hissed as she felt Victoria tense every muscle, trying to find a weakness in the hold and get out of it. "No, princess, your not going anywhere!" A malicious smile, if they're ever was one, but her command didn't stop the girl from trying to thrash below her.

"We are brothers and sisters in arms. Fighting the good fight. We eat, live and die together. And if you can't trust anyone to watch your six, how do you expect any of use to trust you to do the same?" Leiada finished, ending on a softer note. Victoria seemed to stop struggling now, finally stunned into submission. She turned her head to look at Titus, who was watching with an impressed look on his face. He had moved from his earlier position, avoiding the obstacles that had been scattered to the four winds.

She looked back to the Asari, tears filling her eyes. They were soft, the fear was gone - all that was left was guilt. She didn't cry however. Hoarsely, Victoria replied "I-I'm sorry..."

Leiada let go of her legs and rolled off, laying next to her on the mat. "It's not me you should be apologising too." She said nodding in Titus' direction.

The Asari sat up abruptly, realising how much her side hurt. She put her hand into the groove of her waist, wincing. "You got me good, kid." Playfulness returned to her voice, the lesson over. Standing up, shaking the pain off. She would deal with that injury later. Victoria seemed to be imbedded into the mat; her arms still spread out like a cross hair, trying to catch her breath.

A strange expression was painted on her face, like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

"It's been a while that I've been worked that hard" Leiada continued with a wink, it brought a genuine smile to the girl's face. "I'm guessing from how worn out you are, it's been a while for you too." The huntress teased, which just made a little colour kiss Victoria's cheeks and the tip of her nose. The Asari stretched out her hand to the girl offering to help her up, but it was also a token of friendship.

"Come on, Officer Shaw, let's go get shit faced drunk. I think we've earned it. Also it's the best painkiller; the problem is, you have to keep drunk till you heal."

The girl nodded and laughed, before grabbing her stomach and wincing. Victoria took the hand offered to her. She rose to her feet like a newborn animal, shaky and unsure. This was new territory for her, clearly.

"Please, Leiada, call me Tori. Do you think we could get something to eat? I'm so hungry I could eat a Yahg"

This made the Asari laugh hard, but she hissed, stopping as the pain ripped through her, gripping her side with her free hand. "I know the Citadel is good at having all kinds of foods, but I'm sure that's not on the menu." Who knew it, the Ice Princess had a sense of humour, most likely a personality under the 'perfect solider' mask she wore also. Masks have a habit of falling off when those that wore them were drunk.

The girl pouted and flicked her head, the bun that held her long tresses coming loose; she looked a hot mess. "Damn, I sure had a craving."

The Asari Huntress let go of her hand and pointed to the showers, "Well with how you smell, you might be mistaken for one. Go get cleaned up" As commanded the girl limped off, her hand nursing the red circle on her stomach. But before she slipped away, she stopped to stare at Titus. She looked unsure and a little afraid of the tall creature before her. Titus did have an intimidating appearance about him.

Leiada couldn't hear what was said, but she had gotten pretty good at reading lips over the years.

"I'm sorry, I've made a horrible impression," Tori's lips said, her head hanging down a little, eyes cast to the floor remorsefully.

Titus just shook his head "No harm done, Victoria; let's just start again. Titus Cato, at your service." his hand jut out towards her. Without any hesitation, she beamed up at him, eyes taking a new light, no longer clouded by her thoughts, and shook it firmly, five fingers in his three. They fumbled a little bit, as they worked out how they would fit together. It was cute.

"Officer Victoria Shaw, but you may call me Tori"

"Alright, Tori it is" his voice seemed to vibrate all over her name, which made that little blood-rushed colour hit her face again. Victoria scampered off to the showers. Titus' gaze lingered after her before he turned it back to his friend, the tiredness washed away from his face. His eyes closed and he bowed his head slowly in utter respect for the Asari before him. "Thank you" he mouthed before turning to exit.

"Hey T.C! Where, in the Goddess' name, do you think your going! You're paying!" Leiada teased, shouting after him. Titus turned to face her, his expression puzzled.

"But we have work tomorrow?" he called back.

"Phft! Screw that shit; tell Pallin it was my order and if has a problem, he can take it up with me... it's been a while since I've told him to fuck off" and with that Titus laughed, shaking his head.

"Well I'm never one to reject an order. I'll meet you both outside then," Titus said, turning on those pointed Turian feet and left.

Everything was gonna be all right now between them. The meddling mother hen has taken care of her clutch, again. Even if it did come at a cost. How, in the Galaxy, did she get in to this role…?


	5. Status Report

**Chapter 5 – Status Report**

* * *

Something was tingling Titus' nose… He sniffed. It had a sweet scent about it; foreign but comforting, it somewhat reminded him a little of the Dolor* tress on the family estate. Still the tingling was getting unbearable as he tried to blow - whatever it was – from off his face, but it wasn't relenting on its assault. He sneezed.

He peeled open his eyes to the barrage of the synthetic light, to see something fine and jet black in his face. It took him a few moments to realise what it was. It was Tori's dark, luxurious locks. It not tied up in that unusual style of hers, instead her locks, cascaded over and down her arm, like an inky waterfall. He marvelled at the mass of black in his face, before he pushed it away; noting its weight, its texture and how it slid through his talons like silk and shimmered in the light.

He reached to repeat the moment, never witnessing anything so miraculous in his life, but as his talons lightly scrapped against her head to grab a handful, Tori flinched and grunted, making him freeze in position. What was he doing? This was unnatural, to be stroking a Human female and enjoying it, immensely… It was wrong

Tori was sleeping, face down in her arms on the sofa, and he lowered his hand away from her. Titus was about to sit up, when he noticed another mass, weighing down his right arm. He rolled his head to see Leiada snuggled up against him; Asari's leg across his and her hand on his chest. It was only then that Titus noticed the almost unlived emptiness of Lei's apartment.

He" wasn't sure what exactly happened last night, that involved him waking up entangled on the floor with, an Asari; with a human hair in his face. Both of the women were sound asleep, surrounded by bottles and empty shot glasses. How had they ended up sleeping on the floor was one question, at Lei's apartment was another. But at least they were all fully clothed. That was something to be thankful for; although he was quite sure that Leiada tried for her best for that not to be the case.

Titus lay there for a moment, feeling very stiff; his mouth was dry and tasted like he had licked Pyjack repetitively. The synthetic light through the two story windows hurt his eyes more than normal; his ears buzzed and for a moment his body felt too heavy for him to carry. He closed his eyes again, his lids feeling very heavy, sleep calling back his name- when he heard a familiar ding on his omnitool.

Tori let out a groan, while Lei grunted and flipped over violently, her head seeking a dark place somewhere.

He slowly moved his arm with much effort and with the other now being freed from Leiada's snuggle grasp, Titus used his talons to hit the appropriate buttons. The message read.

_My office, ten minutes._

_P_

As quiet as he was trying to be, a groan echoed around his chest; it rumbled and rolled as he thought about the momentous task of trying to get up from the floor and to headquarters, and finally manage a decent conversation with his uncle.

Titus thoughts did not last long as Leiada flipped over again and slammed a hand in his chest like she was hitting an alarm clock.

"For the love of the Goddess, T.C, I will kill you!" Leiada hissed before rolling over and passing out.

He laughed now, which made Tori whimper and groan, curling up tighter in a ball. "Ten more minutes, mum" she whispered, before she too passed back out.

It would be okay to leave her for a moment; she was safe with Leiada and even hung-over the huntress would notice any strange behaviour of the Human girl. She would tell him, too, Titus reassured himself.

Sitting up, he rolled on to all fours before standing. He wondered where in the Galaxy his boots and gloves were.

His boots he found lined up neatly with his companions' by the door, but his gloves… well, he only found one. It wasn't important right now what had happened the other one. A tiny part of him was actually thankful he didn't have to wear the damn thing; it irritated his sensitive skin, no matter what Turian society had to say about propriety. As much as the mystery of the missing glove didn't bother him, the reason why his clothes smelt like damp did. There was no time to investigate, though; he had ten minutes to get to headquarters. Thankfully, Leiada and her mysterious paygrade meant she could afford the best of the best, namely being the Presidium finests apartments.

He stepped out and slowly made his way to the elevator, tapping the side of his visor a few times, before it turned into the calming dark navy of his sun mode. Last night was such a bad idea…

Nine minutes and he was there. Hung-over or not, Titus was never late; Leiada even had a joke that he could be missing half his limbs and be half-dead and he wouldn't be late. He seriously doubted that scenario.

His uncle's office was its usual sterile self, devoid of personality and personal effects; he reminded himself that he hated this place. It reminded him of hospitals; all it was lacking was that disinfected smell.

But there his uncle was, sitting with his face in the middle of a datapad and a small Turian whisky, in his hand. Titus wondered if it wasn't a little early for drinking. But he strolled into the room and saluted his uncle. "Executor."

His uncle gazed up at him, looking a little worse for wear. He seemed tired, his eyes bloodshot, like he hadn't slept a wink in days.

"Titus" Venari replied with a nod of his head, tones equally as tired as he looked. "At ease."

His uncle gestured to the chair in front of his desk and lifted up the glass offering him one. Titus slumped down in the chair, running his forefinger and thumb against his eyes. "Spirits, no!" he groaned; he wasn't going to look at another drop of alcohol for at least a few seasons. That was if Leiada would let him.

His uncle smiled wryly "I see you had a good night." He tossed the datapad in Titus' direction. He casually looked at it, flicked his eyes away, as it was too much to even just look at something. Then he realised what he was looking at and he made a grab for the datapad again to confirm what he saw, his talons making an unpleasant screeching noise as they scraped against the metal desk.

His uncle frowned down at his bare hands, with distaste. Titus was unsure what caused the frown. Was it the fact that his hands were bare, something the turians tried to avoid when staying among other races of the Galaxy? Or was because he hadn't clipped his talons for a few seasons? Either way Titus smiled apologetically.

He unclicked his visor off; as if that would assist in him seeing better, It didn't. the image didn't change - there it was, all clear in surveillance footage. Him, Leiada and Tori, all running around in the presidium gardens, in the sprinkler system…

Now it made sense why his clothes smelt like damp.

"I… Uh" Titus stammered, unsure of what to say. "I don't remember what happened… Lei- E'leust suggested we go out for drinks, clearly it escalated from there."

His uncle seemingly shuddered at the mention of Leiada's name. As much as he despised the Asari, Venari couldn't deny she was probably the best officer in the force. "I hope it didn't end in your usual shenanigans" Titus' uncle sneered, eyes somewhat taking pleasure in making his nephew squirm at the memory of his previous sexual exploits.

But Titus shook his head, his mandibles spread in a weak smile. "No, Sir, I woke up fully clothed and so did the rest of them."

"The rest of them?" his uncle explained somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, Officer Shaw also; we all seemed to end up at Officer E'leust's apartment. They were both still there, when I left."

"I see" was all Venari announced before reaching into his drawer. He pulled out two orange tablets, dropped them in a glass then took out a jug from the same drawer, pouring water into the mix.

He pushed the glass froward to his nephew, as the tablets bubbled and dissolved. Titus bowed his head deep with gratitude, taking a few large gulps.

"Well, go on boy. Tell me what you learnt since, as I assume, the human let her 'hair down'." That was an odd turn of phrase, must have been a human one. Images of the shimmering stands, that fell through his hands like running water, flashed across Titus' mind.

"You did learn something, didn't you?" his uncle half seethed over the sentence,

most likely thinking his nephew spent the night cavorting with the enemy and not doing his job. His tones snapped Titus back to reality.

"She talked. Not very much to go on, but you were definitely right - she does have some issues with the Spectre, doesn't like to talk about her N7 training. But everything else was only what was contained in the dossier."

Venari looked perplexed at hearing this. He sighed. "Sparatus is on my back on this one, he wants news to send back to the hierarchy." He sounded almost defeated, as he took a sip of whisky.

"Oh!" Titus explained, suddenly remembering something. "She had a small fear of Turians."

"What?" gasped his uncle as he nearly choked on his drink, like this was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"Yes, she had a small fear of Turians, because of the Relay 314 incident and her father's death."

"But she doesn't now?"

"She claims that it was only a childish fear growing up, of the big bad monsters that took her dad away."

That seemed to make his uncle chuckle, which made Titus relax just a little more.

"Anything else to report?"

Titus almost shook his head, until he remembered something else she said. Titus had promised he would see what he could do about it.

"Actually, Uncle… I'm not one to tell you how to do your job. However, I must talk to you about keeping Tor-Victoria on the rookie patrol route."

His uncle raised one of his brow plates, considering his nephew and his the casual use of her name. But he said nothing more, clearly waiting for the younger turian to explain himself. So Titus continued on rising out of his chair and taking up the professional stance.

"I've never known you, uncle, to not put a resource to work, even if she is turns out to be a spy. It's as we Turians say: 'You have to admire the enemy's tactics, so that you don't underestimate them.' You seem to have it in mind, that she is the Alliance's brightest rising star? Then put her to work." Titus remarked and tapped on the desk to stress his point. "She's wasted on the patrols and this whole 'I'm here to train you' cover wont last long, if she is just walking rookie route. She will suspect something is up and shut down again."

His uncle considered him carefully, but his eyes were beaming proudly… and yet there seemed to be a hint of sorrow there too. "You would have made an exceptional Executioner," he said in tones that reflected his expression. It was no secret that before Titus decided that he was going back to Palaven and back to Turian military, his uncle wanted to groom him to be a successor to his legacy, carrying on his work.

Had Titus been honest to himself back then, his whole decision to leave was so that could never happen…

"What do you suggest to do with her?"

"Special response… She is an exceptional solider, I watched her and Officer E'leust spar last night."

His uncle leant forward, surprised, eager to hear this story; then a look of puzzlement crossed his face before it came out in a full frown.

"You mean that entire mess in the gym is their fault?" Titus nodded, somewhat concerned about the reprimand that the two could get for the destruction of C-Sec property.

"Yes. But, uncle, it was amazing!" he said. As the memory of the two women fighting came back, his voice seemed to echo some kind of admiration for what he had witnessed. Venari seemed to pause for a moment, snickered and wrote something brief on his

"What happened?" he said Venari asked when he was finished.

Titus grinned now, seeing the excitement in his uncles eyes, his mandible spread happily. It was an unusual but pleasant change from his more common stern features. Titus knew what his uncle wanted to hear - how Leiada got badly beaten across the floor. "Well, obviously Officer E'leust out-ranked her in experience, but Victoria has a raw talent. She just needs field experience, then she will come into her biotic power quite impressively. She got E'leust good, quite a few times" He said, grinning more as his uncle seemed to relish in this thought.

"What about investigations? Do you think there is a talent there also?" Pallin seemed calmer now, no longer thinking about the threat of a spy in his ranks, but somewhat curious to the raw uncut gem he could put to work.

Titus sat back down and considered his answer carefully, basing it on what he witnessed so far, which wasn't much. But his uncle knew this.

"She is sharp, inquisitive and curious" He started, thinking back on the bombardment of questions she laid down in front of him about his digestion; how despite her initial) reluctance she was willing to lean forward and inspect his mouth and teeth without second regard for herself. Titus still continued "All the right foundations for an investigation officer. She is also incredibly patient," Thinking about how any less composed biotic would have blown up with how tightly she was wound before her spar with Leiada. "Lastly, she is composed at nearly all times. I wonder how she managed to keep that up, it must be exhausting… Titus half pondered.

"Unless she is practically paralytic" snorted his uncle, nodding to the amusing video of them running about in sprinklers.

"I'll make sure that she isn't ruined by officer E'leust bad habits" Titus returned professionally, even if he didn't totally agree with the idea that Leiada was a totally bad influence. She could guide Tori as much as he could.

"See that happens then… Well, Titus, you make a good case and you are right. Special response and investigations are things that you excelled at. She will grow well working under you. And trust you more…"

Titus felt his heart sink just a little as he was reminded of his mission. He had to admit he was growing a little fond of Victoria, she blended well with Leiada and him; misfits of the force - he recalled Leiada calling them. But duty was duty, hopefully he wouldn't find any of his uncle fears. But his uncle was never wrong...

Rising to his feet he saluted The Executor "I should go shower and change, I smell like a damp brewery" Titus said and nodded, about to excuse himself. Truth be told, he also wanted to see if his two companions had peeled themselves away from the apartment and crawled into work.

But before he turned, his uncle sighed and rubbed his hand against his face. He looked very tired. "I'm getting too old for this…" Venari muttered.

Titus could have left, but Venari was showing a moment of weakness he had never seen before. It was uncomfortable, but also reassuring in some specific way; that the strict, stoic man who was always in control, was also just a Turian like himself…

"Thinking about retirement already, uncle?" Titus asked gently, feeling some sympathy for the male before him and his long career. His uncle nodded and closed his eyes.

"Some days, the bad days, when you see a bastard walk from the righteous hand of justice all because some officer was too busy to fill out the paperwork correctly... Those ones get me the most."

"I hear old Vakarian retired, how is he doing?" Titus inquired, avoiding the snide remark against his own one stain on a nearly flawless reputation. But that was a tale for another time, best not to dwell on it now.

His uncle perked up a little, hearing of his old mentor "Good, very good. A little bored but he'll be alright."

"Actually speaking of Vakarian… where is Garrus?" Titus asked. With all his work, Titus he originally thought that he had just missed Garrus around the C-sec building; but as the weeks progressed he realised the younger Turian was not around, he had just hadn't thought to ask about it till this morning.

His uncle snorted again a slight dislibelif in his tones as he milled over what was going on in his mind. "Off gallivanting around the Galaxy, with that Spectre - chasing some delusional human vision of sentient synthetics."

At first Titus grinned widely at the thought of Garrus having a wild adventure. They had often spoken about some grand plan, of adventures somewhere out there; actually making a difference in the Galaxy. They weren't friends per say, but they were close enough to share their wild imaginings.

But then the 'sentient synthetics' comment sunk in and he was confused. "Wait, what?" Titus quickly said.

But his uncle shook his head and dismissed it "It's nothing to worry about, the Council has dismissed it. If they say we don't have to worry, then we won't" but his uncle sighed again, his thoughts falling into sadder ones.

"It seems all our young males seem to want to gallivant over the Galaxy, finding adventure instead of doing their duty, their calling…" Titus repressed a flinch; that one stung a little. Obviously, his uncle was still remorseful about his choice to leave the force.

"Weren't you leaving, captain?"

Titus nodded and saluted. "Yes, I better check to see if those two made it into work on time."

His uncle nodded, hardening up, his vulnerable moment over.

"See that you do. I'll have some missions lined up for the two of you, better let your ward know the good news" he said gruffly before writing something on his omnitool.

With that Titus left. But before going to shower as he originally claimed, he headed to his desk to see if Victoria was slumped there, still reeling from a hang over. Before he had a chance to see it, he heard it as he neared the doors. "That bastard! He thinks I'm gonna pay for the damage in the gym? He's got another thing coming!" Leiada's voice rang around the C-Sec headquarters "That old plate… Ooooooh! I'm gonna hide in his private shower and catch him with his pants down" The huntress seethed with rage. Ah, so that was what his uncle kept typing on his omnitool – clearly he sent a message to Officer E'leust…

Titus would hate to be his uncle right now. The doors swished open and he swept in, seeing Leiada holding her omnitool to her face, reading the note and sipping on a green straw of her 'miracle hangover cure'. She was bright alert and not even looking a tiny bit worse for wear.

Tori, on the other hand, was face down on her desk, with sunvisor attached to her face and trying to paw at Leiada without looking. "Please Leiada…. My head…" she said softly, her voice creaking a little as she tried to stifle Leiada's seething rage.

"Hey! I offered you my miracle hangover cure and you rejected it!" The Asari spat back, still not off her high anger emotiona with his uncle. Titus laughed then and joined in with them.

"Don't take it, Tori. Lei's miracle is that the drink is eighty percent alcohol. It's no miracle, her method to cure is just to remain drunk" Leiada turned her piercing blue eyes in his direction. If eyes were like daggers then perhaps Titus would have several stab wounds right now.

"Phft, everyone knows the best way to cure a hangover is just to stay drunk" she muttered and returned to the email that insulted her so.

Tori groaned, now curling up tighter in her arms. "Ugh, no more drink…ever!" She announced. Titus smiled down at her. He'd seen drunken Humans many times, but watching one on a hangover was hilarious; she was acting like she was dying. Unlike a Turian, who would just continue like nothing was wrong with them maybe a little too sensitive to light, but still…

"Hmmm, I guess you are too busy being hung-over, to hear the good news…" Titus said mockingly, turning away like he was about to leave.

He heard a little whine and a whimpered reply "What?"

Titus turned to watch her reaction, knowing this would cheer her up. "Well, starting from today you'll be going on Investigation and Special Response missions…" no sooner than he had finished, Tori sat bolt upright and pulled off her visor. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but her mouth was curling into a wide smile.

"Really?!" She half-squeaked, his and he took great pride in seeing her smile. Titus nodded his head. He had kept his promise, as his Cato code demanded of him.

Without much warning, she sprung out from her chair with a new lease of energy. She jumped up and down and clapped softly. Leiada didn't looked so surprised by the act of joy Victoria was showing, but what happened next definitely surprised the Asari, who had seen it all.

Victoria slid over the corner of the desk as quickly as she had risen, grabbed onto Titus cowl and pulled him down before wrapping her arms around his neck. It was brief, fleeting.

Then she resumed clapping. "Oh how I've missed my armour, I get to wear my armour again!" Tori sang half-skipping off to the showers.

Titus followed her with his gaze until she bounced out of view and he could no longer hear her. He felt rigid, unsure what to do. He turned his gaze back to Leiada, who was still sucking on her straw; her eyebrows raised high on her face, before they narrowed into a sly grin. And the Asari looked away with a gesture he couldn't quite place, she walked off, vanishing before she hit the doors and they opened and closed for the invisible passer-by…

Titus was left alone, getting strange glances from whoever was in the room, all holding the same expression as him… what the hell just happened?


	6. Trust in a Cato

**Chapter 6 - Trust in a Cato**

* * *

Tori sat on a table in the communal lockers, all geared up and ready to go. Titus hadn't mentioned what they were going to do today yet. He had simply stridden up to their joint desks and told her to gear up, before he walked off with his usual confident gait.

As she was strapping the pieces of her armour together, Leiada had appeared, enquired what she Tori was doing and seamlessly insisted that she was coming along. This was how it went most days; she and Tori had been with C-sec for nearly three weeks! The only thing to spoil the routine was that drunken night out was only two days ago. It didn't change anything, though. And every day since she went to work, sat with Titus, fill out reports. They would go on a small patrol. Sometimes Lei would pop up and distract them.

It wasn't at all how Tori imagined it. When would she be putting her skills to use? Going to visit a crime scene, investigating, interrogating… Tori would kill to take part in a drugs' bust right now…

But it just wasn't meant to be, even though Titus had told her that one hung-over morning, that she would be going out to some new missions right now… Well, it hadn't yet come to fruition, but it had only been a couple of days.

Not like she doubted the turian… Okay, that was a lie - she did doubt him. On their drunken-fuelled night she had made him swear that he would do something about her being on the rookie route. He said something strange – he swore by his last name like that actually held any meaning with her. Clearly, it carried a meaning for him, but it was a mystery why exactly.

For now, she was content to be in armour; even it meant that she was just in armour for show. She loathed the C-Sec navy uniform. It reminded her too much of the Alliance. And the Alliance uniform sucked all the femininity out of her. She was watching both Titus and Lei gear up, while trying to adjust her standard issue helmet on her head, to stop it from sliding backwards and forwards on her head. Everything that was just issued to her was either too small or too big for her and smelt funny.

Had none of her other gear been smothered with the N7 logo and colours, she might have just persuaded whoever it was in charge of gear to let her wear it. It was custom made to fit her like a glove, so when she left the Alliance she took it with her. You could stop being Alliance, but you never stopped being N7. She didn't know if that thought was a comfort or not to her, though…

Just then, Leiada drew out a long slender box from her locker interrupting with Tori's musings. Tori knew that shape - it was a gun box. But weren't all guns standard issue? Given at the gun checkout before you got to the garage where squad cars were kept?

Leiada clicked open the locks with her thumbs, before sliding the lid like it was containing the most precious treasure.

And it was.

"Oh" Tori came out with a half-moan, half-sigh, as she moved to the workbench where Lei was taking out her gun. Tori could have dropped to her knees in worship in front of that beautiful rifle, the Black Widow…

Her fingers lingered over its gleaming surface itching to touch. She looked to Leiada on her right, who was grinning wide like a mother showing off her new-born child.

"She is beautiful, no?" The huntress bragged. Tori just nodded in agreement, slightly in awe.

"May I?" the human enquired and with an eager nod Leiada granted her permission.

Tori's hand caressed the length of the gun, before lifting it out of its moulded bed. It instantly unfolded in her hands and she let out another moan.

"Impressive, is it not?" Leiada continued with her gloating, as Tori tested out its weight and looked down its overpowered scope.

"Impressive is not the word I would use to describe it. How on Earth did you get your hands on this?" Tori enquired, almost in disbelief that her comrade owned a gun as rare and as extraordinary as this.

Leiada tapped the side of her nose - a gesture that pretty much said to keep your nose out of it, but it had started Titus off laughing. When had he come back? Tori never thought Titus to be the stealthy kind, with his determined walked and above average size. Sometimes she thought he tried to scare the enemy off by the way he stamped his feet.

"Best you don't ask those kinds of questions. Lei's 'connections' are a well-guarded secret." He remarked, watching Tori test out the gun.

"And it's no secret that you are gonna end up with something broken, if you call me 'Lei' again, T.C." The asari Huntress was quick to quip back, before taking her gun back from Tori and looking down the barrel to make sure it was not misaligned.

Tori managed one more stroke along the Black Widow before letting out a long sigh, "nothing like a bit of gun porn to get the morning going."

"Gun porn, huh? Well that could explain those mysterious noises you were making. Come on, we better get moving." Titus teased, before walking towards the garage to get their squad car.

Tori couldn't drive or, should that be, didn't want to drive. She obviously had the appropriate training to manage a small shuttle and a car, but since taxi cars were automated on the Citadel, those skills were quickly becoming rusty. The civilian transport wasn't too bad either. Tori sat in the back, Titus drove and Leiada took the shotgun. The latter two were partaking in their usual playful banter, although if you were to look at the stone-hard expressions on both their faces, you would not have any idea that they were taking part in their usual foreplay.

That's what Tori had decided to reference it too, anyway. It was clear the two had some obvious romantic connection. She stole a long stare at the both of them. Leiada was of course beautiful, as all asari were. Flawlessly slender figure, with her hair tentacles longer than the average asari. And she had these bright blue eyes that always seemed alert, searching for something. And these rather attractive markings in a deeper shade of navy, which looked like winged eyeliner, making her eyes look even more almond in shape.

Then there was Titus.

Tori took a few more seconds to look at him, honestly not sure how to feel about the turian. He was clearly unusual, with his albino colourings and onyx markings. She had seen albino alligators in the zoos, when she and her mother went to Earth for a holiday. She had thought them so beautiful. Their pale white scales, seemingly flawless, and pink eyes.

But Titus… She couldn't allow herself to think him beautiful. Her feelings towards turian's were complex enough as it was. While she did not have anything truly against them and logically she did not condemn a whole race for what they did to her mother, there was just one thing she couldn't forgive them in her heart - stealing her mother's one true love and in turn taking her father away from her.

But if their bar conversations were anything to go by, she could respect him fully as her superior. He had so much experience. And while he carried this honourable and powerful type of aura, he was quite gentle. Tori could permit him a little closer. If she was going to have any turian comrade standing by her side, it might as well be Titus Cato. They were a little similar in a way.

He was quite a few years older than she was, but by how much she was unsure. He had spent his entire life trying to live up to the turian ideal. And was very successful at it. Tori was just starting out in her career, while he was already established... Another reason to be thankful, that she had such an experienced mentor. He had walked the path she was just starting out. And not only that – the two of them were almost a perfect match of personalities, surprisingly. She was quite certain Pallin hated the very sight of her too much, to make such a pleasant working match

It was then, that Titus flicked his gaze in her direction from the rear view screen. Hazel eyes met purple in silent conversation.

'What are you looking at?' he squinted; mandibles flared slightly, nose relaxed, but twisted to the side - that was a turian equivalent to a sardonic smile. Tori was learning the subtle body language of their species slowly, but surely.

'Nothing' blinked back her eyes once innocently, before sliding to the whizzing view out the window.

"So, where are we going?" Tori asked casually, not daring to draw her eyes back to him to see if he was still observing her.

"I was in the instant response room, looking for something to do and there has been a robbery of a store on the Presidium Commons. Not really a reason for special response to be there, but I want you to have some experience of a crime scene." Flanged deep tones told her.

She nodded her head once. "Sounds better than walking another lap around the Presidium lakes." Tori finished with a laugh, before dragging her eyes back to see if he was staring at her. From how the side of her face burned - he was.

Hazel met purple. She was right.

Once the car landed, a human, a turian and an asari hopped out. It sounded like the start of a bad joke.

"Stay with Leiada, no one does interviews and interrogation like she does. Observe and watch, you're her shadow." And with that simple command Titus was off.

Shaking off the initial confusion, Tori relaxed a little. She felt a little less on show with the asari at her side. While Tori could openly admit she had little experience of other aliens, the asari were familiar to her. After all, her old biotic teacher was one.

"Where is he off to?" Tori questioned the female that she had to shadow now. It felt weird being so easily handed over.

"To do his job," Leiada said confidently, oozing her 'asari' otherworldly presence. It made Tori feel safe. It was a feeling she was way too familiar with.

"Which is? "

Leiada laughed, smoothly like silk. "Titus is an Engineer. All his mods and skills he built, calibrated and designed himself. You have no idea how relieved the lab team was when they heard he was back." Leiada joked, as they watched the pale turian stride into the middle of the crime scene with a gait that screamed 'purpose'.

He stood at the shop's broken front window, and started fiddling with his Omnitool. Suddenly a dark blue combat drone appeared at his side and seemed to buzz excitedly at his side, waiting for his commands to be inputted.

"A combat drone? " Tori said slightly confused. Lei shook her head. "No, that is Yotta. Titus' scanning drone" no sooner than Leiada had said it, the drone seemed to point its circle-shaped… face - if Tori could call it as such - and a single beam of light broke out from its front, breaking into two and within two seconds scanned the room three times.

"Impressive" Tori said, realising the benefits that such a drone could have in police investigations.

"You're telling me. But try and ask him for one of your own and he suddenly becomes a possessive child, with his favourite toy." A smirk played on the asari's face. Clearly, that was yet another story form their past.

Suddenly, another turian from the local C-Sec approached Titus. Tori noticed that his salute towards the albino was just a little too hesitant, as if the newcomer was confused or wary. She didn't know what to make of it - she recalled seeing other turians behaving like that towards TC before and it was weird.

"Why do they do that?" Tori asked her more experienced colleague, gesturing to the scene in front of her. Such a display towards her would drive Tori crazy, yet Titus was there, taking it in his stride as if nothing was wrong.

Leiada let out a small disappointed sigh, for a moment the younger human though she had said something wrong. "It s a little complicated" Tori felt a wave of relief wash over her, she hadn't said anything wrong.

"Care to try and explain it to me?" Tori said, pushing for answers on the mysterious species she had grown up knowing as cold blooded, cold-hearted murderers.

Taking a deep breath Lei attempted to explain. "The Cato clan is a little unusual. Back when the unification wars happened, Titus' family members were on the opposing side of the Hierarchy. While their reasons to going to war were not the same as the other colonies, their reasoning still leads to a little mistrust."

"What were their reasons"?" Tori asked, simply, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Leiada smiled and continued, apparently being in a good mood for stories today. "They wanted to go against the turian norm. I mean, look at those markings: unsymmetrical, black accented with gold. Turian life is all about doing your job, not standing out. Living your life for the cause. Society first, platoon first. Cato clan disagreed then, they disagree now. Family first, forever and always. They might not disagree as openly as they used too, but those markings are a blatant tribute to their ancestors. 'We will live by your code, but we shall work it our way'. They are an incredibly successful clan. I guess when other turians see a Cato coming; they think him prideful, arrogant and somewhat unpredictable. They go on this basis before even considering anything else. But I can promise you this, Tori, you can always count on a Cato being at your side through every hardship, if you are lucky to call them your friend. They always keep to their word."

Tori drunk in those black markings, with their 'prideful' accents of gold for a moment. She never knew the markings of turians to hold such significance before. She almost thought it was something to set turians apart from each other. She shamefully admitted they all somewhat looked the same.

But those markings were indeed a heavy burden to carry on one's face, even more so to live up too. Tori could only compare it to the meaning of her own name and the burden she carried being named it. It seemed that she was not that different to the monsters she envisioned as a child. She didn't know if that thought was comforting or unsettling.

"Lovely topic, TC, I know" Lei said with a teasing smile. "I have more awesome stories, but I'm going to share them on another time. Right now it seems only he is working, so let's move our pretty asses, Princess!"


	7. Rivalry Within

**Chapter 7- Rivalry Within**

* * *

"I think I'll start looking for my own apartment soon," Tori said cautiously , as she slid a bit of steak into her mouth, testing the water on a touchy subject. As expected, her mother threw up her head and gave her a stone-cold, panicked look.

"What? You can't!" exclaimed Bethany hastily, before she realised what she was saying. Tori's mother bit her bottom lip realising her err.

Tori reached out and covered the back of her mother's hand, with her own. "Surely you don't want me living under your roof forever?" She teased, trying to soften the blow.

Her mother wrinkled her nose.

"It's bad enough you went to work surrounded by those things," Bethany Gestured to a nearby turian patrol agent, but it wasn't like Tori needed to know what she meant. "But I understand that you need your own space. At least maybe now you'll attempt to date or have a little social life. Have you found a place yet?" Bethany enquired, trying to sound chipper. Tori shook her head

"Not yet, but I'll draw up a list soon. I was hoping you would come and visit a few places with me?" Tori's mother nodded her head and speared at her salad.

Tori took a deep breath; well that didn't go as badly as she thought. It has been a long time since they had just hung out like this. Her work had taken up most of her time. And Titus didn't leave her alone for more than five minutes. Whenever she managed to steal a few moments for herself, there he would be. Occasionally with Leiada in tow. Not that she didn't mind it, she in fact enjoyed their company, but it was starting to board on obsessive. Tori fully understood the meaning of C-Sec being more than a job, but a way of living. Yet there surely had to be a time where you were allowed to have a moment for yourself.

As ever, Tori's mother mind reading skills must have kicked in, because she instantly asked: "So how are you finding it?"

Tori managed a smile that she knew wouldn't fool her mother, but it was worth a try.

"Fine" she said blandly, as she scoffed down the rest of her meal.

"Really, being surrounded by all those turians?" Bethany was digging. Tori slid her hazel eyes to her mothers silver ones.

Her mother wasn't a xenophobe, not at all. She got along great with Tori's asari teacher, and Tori had even seen her mother casually chatting and laughing with a hanar diplomat. But there no was no shadow of a doubt. Her mother did not like the strange raptor-looking turian species; it was practically bordering on hate.

In some way Tori felt obliged to feel the same. But she was learning that to hold such feelings towards a people that were almost the same as her own, if not more noble, more dutiful, more classy and elegant - was beyond being a little silly. Titus had shown her that, he had opened her eyes to a world bigger than herself; bigger than just her and her mother and it needed her to welcome them all with open arms. It was the only way to serve the galactic community. A small smile crept up on her lips as she looked down at her food, feeling slightly fond of her new turian friend and mentor.

"What?" Damn, nothing escaped that predatory gaze of Bethany's, in fact she was much like Pallin. Tori could bet that if the two of them could work past their seething hate for each other, they would get along like a house on fire. That made her smile a little more.

"Nothing, just thinking about friends at work. It's not like the Alliance; it's a little sleepy. But I really feel like I belong here."

Her mother smiled. Tori always had a few problems, feeling like she fitted anywhere but where she was. Horizon was a nightmare for her - she always felt she in the should be in the sky and space. But her mother's life choices had cut her wings. At eighteen she joined the military, expecting to find other like-minded people like herself. Instead, she found one of two things; She was not accepted as she was and instead had to play a role to find any connection with anyone.

Then eventually she had enough of dancing someone else's dance to her tune. It backfired on her greatly during the test that at the time had meant so much to her. And now she was here, at the Citadel, here at C-sec. Her tune forgotten, unsure of the steps of her dance… but there were two very different alien hands eager to lead the way. Such contentment was hard to find, despite the Galaxy being so sparse.

"I'm glad you are finally finding your place, settling down. I knew you would get there eventually, I just didn't know when or how." Tori smiled at her mother's words and the two women finished their lunch in a comfortable silence.

Tori still had time before she would need to be back at the precinct, so she suggested they should take a calm walk around the lakes. They were chatting about frivolous things, mainly being her mother's extreme hate for Udina's manipulative methods. Things were kept light and fun, but in the corner of her eye Tori spotted a red krogan. He wasn't hard to miss. Krogan were pretty rare on the Citadel, but on the top of that this one was dressed in burgundy armour and had a very distinctive facial scar.

He walked across the grass, which had a sign which clearly stated, 'do not walk' on it. But he ignored it. It wasn't a serious offence, to go tangling with a krogan nearly twice her size in height and girth. He walked to the lake and seemingly watched the water. Tori looked away back to her mother, smiling and nodding at the appropriate parts in the conversation. But the red krogan was clearly distracting her.

She relaxed a little when he turned his gaze from the waters to the krogan statue, standing with a grace and might that a lot of people didn't think the krogan deserved.

Tori rejoined the conversation just as her mother was sharing a little gossip about the fallen Spectre, Saren, and how it should have been expected from one of his kind, when the air suddenly became tense and electric.

Tori always had a natural affinity with sensing danger; she dodged bullets when they rained down and she was never in the wrong place at the wrong time. She just put it down to luck, but this she could feel, as goosebumps appeared on her skin and the hairs on her arms raised.

There was a scream of a woman and a sudden plea for someone to help. Instinctively, she looked back to where they krogan was, only to see him holding a civilian by the neck of his shirt. The man'slegs were dangling aimlessly several feet off the ground.

"Shit!" Tori cried and without much thinking, without a plan, she sprinted off towards the scene, reaching for her faithful pistol at her hip.

Just as she hopped over a bench, she drew her gun up to her eyesight, circling around the krogan, till she had a potion of his back facing her. "Don't move and put the civilian down!" It was firmly spoken, with more confidence than Tori actually felt. It was as if the krogan had sensed her hidden fear; he reached for the gun at his back. It unfolded and he pointed it at the man's head. They really needed to ban guns on the Citadel a thought flashed across Tori's mind; they caused more problems than drugs. And at least drugs were hidden and stowed away.

The women screamed again, which was just drawing a bigger crowed. There were many small children in this area. It would be better if none of them were traumatised with seeing a man's brains being scattered to the wind.

"Drop your weapon and step back from the civilian, or I will be forced to shoot." The krogan still ignored her. It was like he was toying with her, daring her to mess with him, shoot him, get herself in a world of trouble and hurt. He loaded his gun with a loud click and pressed it back against his victim's skull.

The air that was pleasantly cool and sweet before, was now filled with strong stench of ammonia as the man literally pissed himself.

The krogan did not seem too impressed, snarling and muttering inaudible that Tori could not hear. Gods, how she was out of her depth here. She needed to think fast.

Too late to call for back up, one bullet was not going to be enough to stop the krogan. He needed attention off that man and on her, stat.

Her right hand, free from her pistol, glowed blue as she curled it into a fist and snapped it back like she was casting away rubbish. It was quick and the krogan was most likely not expecting a biotic as his grip was loose. His shotgun flew from his hand and landed at Tori's feet.

He turned his head abruptly to look at her, a menacing look in his red eyes. Perhaps his focus being on her wasn't such a good idea after all; now she was going to be a red smear on the floor. But she did not back down, despite all her instincts in that moment were telling her to run. This was the first time she had ever stared down a krogan in her life.

"A biotic. How interesting." The krogan said with a sort of quiet, calm dignity about him. He his victim fall to the floor and the man scampered off as fast as his legs could carry him.

"I am starting to think that the males of your species are not worth the gore they make when you pummel their skulls in, but human women…" He edged closer to her, his shadow casting over Tori, like a bird of pray when it swoops down for the kill. "Well I've met one that made me reconsider your species as weak and now it seems I have met another. Am I wrong?"

The air grew stagnant as he closed the gap between them; what was with krogan and invading personal space anyway? He stared right back into her hazel eyes down the length of her gun. She would only need to pull the trigger and she could get him right between the eyes.

Krogan were known to be dangerous and unpredictable, but this red force of nature before her was so calm. Dangerously calm. This was worse. Tori found her voice and held the grip on her gun tighter, finding new resolve.

"You need to come down to the station. We can do this the hard way or the easy way, which do you prefer?"

He snorted and she could feel his hot breath hitting across her face. "I want you to try" he said in easy, deep tones. More intimidation to put her off, but she had not gotten this far to back down. Red smear on the floor being her immediate future or not.

Tori shifted her foot forward so that the barrel of her gun kissed his leathery skin between the krogan's eyes, and she continued to stare down at him.

"_Try me_, I _dare_ you." She replied back, stressing on her own dare. Gods, she hopped he wouldn't call her bluff. To equal her threat her biotic energy flickered over her skin, like in some primal battle display, making a show that she was powering up. But the krogan laughed and took a step back, seemingly delighted by something she said.

"Very well, officer, I will go with you, but only because you asked so nicely…"

Tori stood down and pointed her gun to the sky, gesturing down the promenade with her free hand.

"After you." It was in the moment when he decided to walk that Tori stole a second to look over at where her mother had been left. Her expression was concern, but her eyes beamed pride. Tori managed a smile and nodded before walking off.

The walk back to the precinct was a little awkward, the krogan leading, her trailing behind; her gun reholstered but her hand lingering near her faithful carnifex just in case.

She had a moment to hit up the C-Sec database on her omni-tool and find out whom it was she was now dragging back.

_Urdnot Wrex - Extremely dangerous, proceed with caution. _

It read. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach about how badly her confrontation with the krogan named Wrex could have gone. Before she entered, she had a quick moment to read him his rights.

Once inside, she pointed to the desk before walking by his side. "We need to book this krogan in, Urdnot Wrex" she said calmly. The clerk who sat behind it looked at her with disbelief and then slid her gaze to the krogan, fear lingering in her eyes.

The krogan smirked and bent down so he met clerk's gaze.

"You better be quick, I doubt I'll be here long." Then he turned his large head to Tori and in a demand, "I'm going to make a call."

Tori shrugged casually, feeling a little pleased with herself for brining down such a mighty name in on her own.

"Go ahead. I'm sure your lawyer wants to know you are here."

The krogan laughed and pressed a finger to the side of his face. "Shepard, come down to the presidium, C-Sec precinct. I need bailing out."

Tori suddenly paled, her pride depleted as quickly as the blood from her face rushed away. Shepard? It couldn't have been Commander Jane Shepard, could it? She felt the rage grow and boil inside her. Tori tried to turn to leave, but found her feet weighted, unwilling to move. She stumbled, till she felt very familiar hands grab her by her shoulders and she lent against a pointed chest.

She knew she only had to look upwards to see Titus violet eyes stare down at her from above his cowl. "Are you all right?" He asked. Tori shook her head, the only confession she could make.

* * *

"Are you insane?" Titus chastised Tori from the sidelines, far from where the krogan was delaying his booking. Tori seemed distracted, her golden eyes fixed on the door where a moment ago she proudly walked her prize in. Titus was still holding her by the shoulders and he gave her a light shake to bring her back into the room and with him. She turned her head slowly; her eyes loosing that glazed look, like she was waking up from a dream.

"I-umm… He was attacking a civilian, what else was I supposed to do?" She said crossly. Titus let go of her and sighed.

"Call for back-up" he reaffirmed; Tori shook her head, starting to knock her bun loose.

"And we would be filling out a dead civilian report and I would have Pallin riding my ass about how I didn't react quickly enough to save that guy."

She was right, of course, but Titus wasn't going to back down. He folded his arms defensively. "You cannot predict the future; that krogan could have killed you- "

"That krogan has a name. Urdnot Wrex, the last of the Battlemasters" Interrupted Wrex He was now done with his call and had turned his attention to the women, who has impressed him earlier, therefore overhearing their conversation.

Oh, Titus was very familiar with Urdnot Wrex. He lent forward and chortled, his mandibles fluttering in threat. "Back off, krogan, this doesn't concern you." He said in a low hiss, his head bent down. It was a Typical turian dominance body language.

Titus had confronted many krogan, especially this krogan - one of his cracks demanded that Titus didn't back down and he wasn't going too. He knew a lot of his hatred was inbred, but this krogan he had tangoed with before - he had one nice crack on his brow, where Wrex had head-butted him many years ago. Granted, Titus was out of line; he was young, angry and somewhat reckless, but his pride would never allow him to announce it publicly.

"Okay, okay, boys! Calm down. You can stop beating your chests and howling from the rooftops that you are the manliest male on the Citadel."

Quick teasing tones came from behind Titus, as Leiada slipped in front of him, putting distance between himself and most likely another krogan headbutt.

Wrex laughed and opened his arms wide in a greeting. "Well, if it isn't my favourite Citadel cop! Still kicking around here I see." Titus wondered sometimes, if there wasn't anyone on the Citadel Leiada didn't know.

The two chatted like a pair of old friends meeting at a bar for a while. It ended up with Leiada had giving the red krogan male a friendly head-butt, to which the krogan looked pleased with. It was a rare thing for a non-krogan to be familiar with a krogan enough to display such a sign of affection, but again – it was Lei he was looking at. Suddenly the precincts doors slid open and a presence that couldn't be ignored entered, interrupting the scene.

She walked with determination, eyes as fiery as the red mass on her head. Titus knew the face, everyone knew the face. Commander Shepard, most likely the most recognisable and famous Spectre next to Saren. It wasn't a kind face, he decided. It held conviction, duty and an unrelenting edge to get the job done. Admirable traits. Suddenly, Titus' mind flicked to Tori. He turned his head to see her standing behind him; eyes fixed on Shepard, like she was sizing her up for a kill. The air around her felt electric and he found himself backing away from her for just a moment, unsure if he should just discreetly remove her from the room. But if he was ever going to get to the bottom of what was the story of Shaw and Shepard – well, now was the time. Despite how ugly could possibly get.

"Ok, which idiot arrested my krogan?" Shepard announced, her fists on her hips as she quickly scanned the room.

"Your krogan?" Wrex replied unimpressed. Shepard gestured him off dismissively.

But what was unexpected, was Tori's form sliding from behind Titus and stepping up to Shepard Titus held his breath.

"This idiot" She scowled, her thumb pointed at herself. Shepard's green eyes snapped on the owner of the voice, looking less than impressed for a second, but they quickly brightened in awareness of who was she speaking to.

"Victoria Shaw!" the Spectre announced, closing the space between the two Alliance women, her hand sliding out in that weird human greeting.

For a moment, it looked like Tori was about to take Shepard's hand, as her arm moved from her side, palm extended. But it quickly missed the Spectre's hand and performed a perfect salute instead. "Commander…" It was ever such a small slight, but Titus couldn't help but smile a little at how clever it was. The other human stared down at her empty hand for a moment, before she let it fall to her side. She continued to smile warmly.

"What are you doing here? God, don't tell me you left the Alliance and joined C-sec?"

Titus felt a rumbled growl developing in his chest. As if being with C-sec was a lower-class job that being with the Alliance! He didn't like that; he decided in that moment he didn't like Shepard either.

Tori folded her arms defensively; good, she agreed with his thoughts. "Yup. Right after N7 training"

Shepard looked surprised at that statement. "Really? A pity, you showed a lot of promise, bet it's going unnoticed here. You know, I could use another biotic on my team, I bet you miss space-."

"No, thanks." Tori replied curtly, cutting off Shepard's sentence. The other women frowned; Titus could bet she wasn't used to being told 'no' often. He suddenly felt very proud of his ward.

"Ah, I see. Guess good food and good beds have made you a little soft, huh?" The Commander laughed, trying to keep the mood light, despite Tori giving as much frost as her Ice Princess persona could muster. "I won't keep you from your duty, I'll take Wrex under Spectre jurisdiction and be out of your hair."

"Typical Jane Shepard. Swooping in, saving the day, fixing everyone's problems and messes for them."

Titus felt himself and the rest of the room freezing, as they all heard what Tori had just said; did she just deny Shepard her Spectre right?

Titus began to worry.

"You're still sore about that, huh?"

"Seriously, Jane, get off your high horse and stop playing martyr. The whole 'Poor me, I have the weight of the Universe weighing me down' thing is starting to get a little dull."

Ok, it was time for him to step in, she was being overly rude. Despite how justified it might have been, she was wearing the C-sec uniform and standing in a room full of people, all watching. He stepped behind Tori and cleared his throat, seemingly trying to catch her attention. She ignored it, blatantly.

"I didn't ask to be put in this position, I just ended up here" Shepard said cautiously, looking up at him before moving her gaze back to Tori.

"Jane, you claiming it's just destiny, is like me claiming I'm the queen of the fucking vorcha!"

He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Shaw… That's enough-" She rose her palm to him, the universal sign for him to stop, before she continued with words she had clearly been holding onto for a while.

"You make yourself available to everyone's problems and everyone's qualms, letting them make a martyr out of you! Of course they're gonna call on you when shit goes down. 'Galaxy going to hell? Sure, send the girl who likes making a show of how much she is wiling to sacrifice herself!"

"Shaw, you're making a scene" Titus interrupted again, looking around the room, taking in all the shocked voices. In spite of this heated argument, her earlier achievement of brining in a krogan was entirely forgotten.

"That isn't fair, Shaw, and you know it." Shepard's voice became stressed, she was getting angry.

"What isn't fair, is that you butted your nose where it wasn't wanted and took the whole honour of earning my right as a N7!"

"You would have failed!" The red-haired human seethed back.

"Good! It was my call, my mistake! Not yours!" The room fell silent, as they watched the two women; Tori's voice was now stressed too and on the brink of screaming at her former superior.

"I would have learnt my lesson, brushed myself off and tried again next year." She said a little quieter, trying to remain calm, but beneath Titus' hand that was on her shoulder, he could feel her shaking as she tried to contain the rage. It was almost as if she sensed he could feel her trembling and she peeled his hand off her.

"But you haven't learned from your mistake, have you, Shaw? You're still standing here, not knowing what it is to be a part of a team and share the burden. Trying to play a martyr yourself. And you still don't know how to say thank you. Come on, Wrex, I think I'm done here." A cocky little grin crept up on Shepard's lips. That was a low blow.

"And for the record, Shaw; I knew you would kill yourself with work if you didn't pass, so I helped you. I did it for your own good."

Commander Shepard strode out taking her charisma and the krogan with her. The room hadn't resumed moving yet; all eyes were on Tori. She was still standing, staring at the door where Shepard had left, fist clenched tight at her side, shoulders holding tension and rigid; she was trembling…

Titus edged a little closer and moved his hand to touch her on her shoulder again, bring her back to the room, back to her sane, reasonable, albeit reserved self.

But no sooner than he made contact, Tori flinched, bursting into biotic flame before screaming as she swung the fist she was clenching so tightly. Titus backed off instantly, unsure what she was swinging for. The fist became a hand as she pushed him backwards a few steps; had he not been fully prepared she could have easily sent him across the room.

The ripples of her biotic fields washed over him with their static, tingling feeling and awkward silence fell again upon the group of onlookers. The only sound in the room seemed to be her harsh and ragged breathing. "Tori…" he said softly, reaching out to touch her again.

"Don't!" Voiced cracking, stressed and broken. "Don't touch me…" she turned on the balls of her feet swiftly, her fists clenched back", before she moved out of the room, pressing hard to the fire escape doors. They swung open with a bang, the sound of metal twisting and warping before light footsteps raced up the stairs quickly. Titus took a moment to survey to room; people were resuming work, but not without talking about the "unstable biotic" a few looking at him, waiting to see what his move was now Leiada was still where She had been left left with Wrex, standing by the reception; she nodded to where Tori took an exit stage left. As if he needed any hint that he had to go after her. Titus just hoped it wasn't too far up…


	8. Legacy of Heroes

**Chapter 8 - Legacy of Heroes**

* * *

Her legs couldn't move up the stairs quick enough. At one point she ceased feeling the burning in her thighs and the only evidence she was still moving was the sound of her standard issued boots making hard slaps on the floor.

Reaching the top, she slammed against the rooftop door while pressing her hand repeatedly against the access pad. The doors seemed to slide open too slow and she pushed herself through the gap before they were fully open, so she could finally be outside. It felt like it was the first time she took a breath since her moment with Jane was over. She gasped, bending and bent, putting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath for breath. Pulling at the tie that held her hair in its bun she let it loose, before loosening the few hidden fastenings of her uniform to free her neck. That seemed to ease her breath, as she ran her hand along her throat. Tori needed to be free.

Standing straight, she cast her eyes to the artificial sky above . She liked it up here, watching the cars whiz pass. It was the only place on the Citadel one could feel anything that could pass for a breeze.

Tori was suddenly overcome with a deep sense of shame. She had lost her cool for the first time, damaged C-Sec property, and most likely everyone who witnessed it thought she was yet another biotic loose cannon. But most importantly, she had lashed out at Titus.

She pressed her palm to cover her face, hide her shame, as she walked over to the railing that divided the edge of the building and the long drop down. She should have listened to Titus. Had Tori been the type to cry she might have done so now. But despite how her eyes burnt with rage, tears did not flow.

She kicked her legs over the side of the ledge and sat on the railing, her hand gripping the cool metal, so she wouldn't fall.

She wasn't left alone for long, before she heard harsh breathing and the familiar heavy-footed swagger that belonged to her white turian mentor. She didn't turn to greet him. He most likely had a harsh word or two to say about her behaviour. If Tori didn't feel like she deserved the punishment she would have asked him to leave her alone for a few more minutes.

It took the turian behind her - still by the entrance, if her ears didn't fail her - a few minutes to calm himself. Tori wondered if he had poor level of stamina, but then again she never saw him run. He always moved with slow, precise movements. on the other side he was definitely more muscular than the average, lean turian. Or at least that seemed to be from what she could tell from his armour and civvies.

"Your not going to jump, are you?" he spoke calm and gravely. His voice was always calm. It was quite soothing to listen too. "I'm sure as much as you would make a pretty human-shaped splat down there, I really don't want to be filling out suicide paper work today…" Tori laughed then, releasing one side of the railing to push her wind-blown hair out her face and turned to look at him.

"No, I'm not going to jump. I just like it up here, I fell less small…" She said softly. Any quieter and the wind had a chance to steal her words away.

"Alright then." Titus replied, sounding a little relieved. Confirmed, but the strange little chortle he made, followed by his mandibles making light flutter at the side of his face. His feet slid against the floor, his knees trembled a little, Tori noticed. Almost as if they struggled to lift off the floor all together. Tori raised a brow at that as the turian lifted his arm and offered his hand out to her. "Then, if you're not going to jump, I kindly request that you get down from there and come here…" Tori tilted her head as her mind made the connection of what was going on.

"Cato, are you afraid of heights?" He frowned, looking unimpressed with her accusation, then straightened out his arm insisting she take it, edging just a tiny bit closer to her. Cautiously. Was it because he was still fearful that she would jump, or because of what she suspected?

Tori knew she was one to be a bit melodramatic, but not so much that a little spat would have her throwing herself off the top of a building. She also hoped Titus knew better.

Prideful turian, he was afraid of heights. She laughed out then, finding it amusing that the strong and mighty Titus Cato was scared of being high up. She leaned back a little bit, looking down over the edge and the long drop down. "Look, Titus…" she teased, flicking her gaze back at him and a smile creeping on her face.

"Don't" He threatened, his eyes behind his visor going wide with alert and fear. Tori decided to push it just a little bit further, straightening out her legs and letting go of the ledge.

"Look, no hands!"

She was perfectly balanced on that narrow edge, carefully using her legs as a counterweight. But for a brief moment she wobbled and she let out a little excited and panicked squeak.

She regained her balance as quickly as she lost it, but Titus didn't miss a beat, he was upon her. His fear forgotten as his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her off the railing. Backing up he held her close and looked down at her with scorn.

"Shaw, you little idiot…" he rumbled. Sometimes Tori wondered how deeply he spoke, as if he formed his words deep in his chest.

She could have pushed him off and told him she was fine, she could take care of herself. But Jane's words stuck firmly in her head. She didn't know how to be a part of a team, but here was her team member before her, pushing past a fear she suspected he had, pulling her from death's grasp - supposedly. She smiled and let him hold her close to his pointed chest. She has never noticed before how heat just radiated off him.

"Good thing I have you here with me, then." she said smiling up at one half of his face, the other half missing inside his cowl. She wondered for a moment how turians even saw their feet.

His purple eyes took a light behind that navy of his visor, he was smiling. But he let her go and stepped back. "That and your luck hasn't ran out just yet. Would you believe as a child I wanted to be a pilot? But my eyesight was too poor and the fact I am afraid of heights…" He confessed to her and she smiled and put her hand on his folded arms.

"Who would have guessed the mighty Captain Cato is afraid of heights?" He rolled his eyes at her.

"Laugh it up, Shaw…" He finished with a chuckle before his face hardened and he gave her a stern look. He was gonna chastise her. She broke away her gaze; she could not bear to take the disappointment in his voice and in his face at the same time.

"So, come on, spill it," to her surprise he didn't reprimand her. "What happened between you and Shepard?" He said that so coldly, the usual gentle harmonics of his voice gone; it made her shiver as if a chill crept from his voice and up her back.

"I-I don't want to talk about it…" Tori insisted, still looking away from him. He closed the distance once again and put his hands on her shoulders, firmly.

"Tori, look at me" He was using a voice she had never heard before, perhaps because he never really had to use it with her. It was gentle, but firm; hinting at a subtle command that she just couldn't deny.

She dragged her eyes along his arm, settling on the C-Sec insignia on his shoulder, before she blew out a puff of air that moved her hair out from her face and finally met him dead in the eye, steeling herself for what came next.

"As you superior officer I order you to tell me, as your friend, I implore you to tell me." He said it so gently, it surpised her. It wasn't at all what he was expecting.

"Well I'm never one to ignore an order" Tori replied, using his stolen words, trying to force humour into her saddened voice.

She pulled away from him and turnt her back. She wrapped her arms around her, feeling suddenly cold up there on the roof.

"N7 training," She took a deep breath, to relieve the knot forming in her chest; no that wasn't going help, it had always been there… This would mark the first time she would speak about it since it happened. "it signifies the best of the Alliance; there are six levels, you see." She turned her head a little so Titus could see her face but not to look directly at him.

"They drop you into war zone areas, real areas. mercs, slavers, anything they can come up with. It's hard; it's supposed to be hard, and then they train and test us in the heat of battle" Tori started to pace as she recalled back the long list of things she was qualified to do. "A N7 is a leader, a medic to both human and alien biology. A linguists, free-fallers, instructors, skilled in all weapons, martial arts, specialists in their class. Pilots, and a strategist" she paused for a moment to look at him. Titus held this look of slight disbelief that she, this little human in front of him, could possibly do all that. She pushed on.

"Gruelling twenty hour days, little food, even less sleep. We are pushed to our limits to get the best out of us and in return we get the best back. Best missions, best gear. You're not considered a failure, if you don't pass. It's designed to be hard, people get injured, people even die. But it's an honour to be chosen, to take part."

"Sounds tough" Titus interjected. Tori smiled softly and nodded in agreement with him.

"It is, but you know what, I've never been brought to the limit of my potential and then felt myself surpass it."

"I am surprised by the Alliance knowledge to get the best out of their soldiers. I think I am learning something today" he remarked light-heartedly and it made Tori chuckle. Turians, they really did think the human race was completely unable to do anything for themselves.

"So there are seven of us in this squad. Shepard, Smith, Benson, Lewis, Tokigowa, Patel and myself." Tori listed the names off by heart, those six other people, who went through it all with her; she spoke all of them with affection. Aside from Shepard, of course.

She sat down on the floor and crossed her legs; Titus too, relaxed and leaned up against the wall, still as far from the edge of the roof he could muster without being downstairs. "We all took our turns playing different roles in the squad." Tori continued, fiddling for her omnitool, looking for a picture. "Here, there's a picture of us, just before training at 'the villa'" She pointed her tool in his direction transferring the picture before continuing with her tale. "Patel, the girl on the far left - she was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen; rich, brown skin and slim figure. Dark eyes and dark hair. She was an Alliance field doctor; she excelled on missions where she was the medic."

"She's from India; both her parents were doctors, so she too became a doctor. But she always said she was a bit of a tomboy, playing soldiers with her brothers. Joining the Alliance was second nature to her. Although looking at her, you wouldn't know that she was such a butch women." Tori said with a laugh as she looked at the photo again. Patel was cen on the far left, one fist on her hip, the other arm posing as if she was showing off muscles.

"She was chosen because she was in Gambia, that's a place on Earth" Tori reconfirmed, not sure how familiar Titus was with Earth's geography. "been in civil strife for years, Patel was serving in an Alliance hospital for civilians and soldiers; they even took in some of the guerrilla injured . She was compassionate like that." Tori paused again, pushing her hair out her face, eyes closed as she reflected internally on her comrade.

"While she was in surgery, the hospital came under siege by the local guerrilla force, they wanted to take hostages. Not only did she finish her surgery, but also she came out, picked up the nearest gun and led the resistance to drive them out. An amazing woman, strong courageous… loved her work and her patients. Patel, she was the first to go down…" Tori said sadly. "It was no one's fault, she just timed her exit out of cover wrong. One armour-piercing bullet to the head and she was gone…"

She stopped now, and rolled her neck, until it cracked. It was almost as if her body was finally relaxing, after months of keeping these events to herself. Slowly, her body was giving her permission to let go.

"So what did you do to get noticed?" Titus interrupted.

Tori let out a short laugh of dismissal "Nothing spectacular, I was just in the right place at the right time" she gushed.

"Sounds about right" he drawled out long and low.

"I was on shore leave, checking out real estate for my mother, in a small town on a colony planet. Some batarians decided to hit. I think I caught them by surprise. Held them off for eight hours till the Alliance showed up."

"You know, from what I've seen of you so far, I can almost believe it." Titus said, one mandible flared to the side of his face. Was that a smirk?

"I wanted to be the best, I would have done anything, sacrificed anything to achieve it. N7 was my goal. I just didn't know I wanted it till I got the email saying I had been chosen. "

"So what happened to change that?" the turian enquired, and Tori sighed and laid down flat on the roof, her hand resting on her stomach as she stared up at the sky above her.

"Final test, it would have taken us from N6 to N7. Only six of us were left in the squad. We were friends by now, sealed in battle, blood and bullets…"

Long eyelashes fluttered shut, Tori could still hear the shouts of command from Shepard, the whizzing sound of bullets overhead, an explosion from a rocket launcher. She breathed deep and slow.

"Benson, father of three. Tough man, military through and through. Built like an ox, made even a Krogan look small. Gentle, but deadly when a gun was put in his hands. You know, you remind me a little of him." She said, stealing a little look at the white turian in front of her.

"I'm sure, was he an albino too?" Titus joked.

"Ha-Ha, Cato… laugh it up; Shepard was in command during that mission, I was offensive fire. Benson was having troubles with his helmet. It kept sliding forward on his head, blocking his view. He spent most of the objective pushing it back up to fire, before it slid back down again. I remember being so angry with him. He was slowing us down; he was also our best firearm expert. We needed him operational."

Tori pressed her fingers to her lips and turned her head to the side. The tears still didn't fall. "Shepard was in front, with Tokigowa and Lewis. I was in the back with Benson. He was cursing about his damn helmet. Unthinking, I just told him to hand it to me. He passed it over; I looked at the inside and saw that one of the head bracers was snapped. I looked up, looked him clear in his green eyes. He was frustrated. But in a second those eyes went dead, that light they have, you know, when someone is alive? Blood trickled down his nose and he fell, his helmet held in mid air, as I was about to pass it back to him. It was entirely my fault. Everyone knows you don't remove your helmet during live fire…"

She heard Titus sigh, his heavy steps moving across to her, before he sat beside. He was about to say something comforting, Tori just knew it. But she couldn't permit him, so she forced herself to keep talking, her voice wavering as she pushed through. "Three are growing up right now, without a dad; all because I had to butt my nose in. It wasn't my call to make. It was Shepard's, but there I was, Victoria Diana Shaw, giving an order in the middle of a battle zone, all because I was angry that we weren't completing our objective quickly enough, because the squad was slowing me down. Selfish reasons through and through."

"So that's why you left?" Tori shook her head.

"No I expected to fail the mission, that was a gross misconduct. The whole reason why you pass the N-course is because you do so in an admirable and effective fashion. I was everything but admirable and effective. I had made my peace with that I was going to fail. We filled out our reports, handed them into to Shepard and that was it. We all said our goodbyes, knowing we wouldn't really see each other again and waited for the results. But then something happened. I got the email saying I passed. I was so confused at first. Then the grading came in and a copy of my report came with it. It had been doctored. Instead of it being me who told Benson to take off his helmet, in my report it said Shepard told me to tell him to take it off and deal with it."

"So how did Shepard pass then?" Titus asked gently.

"Shepard was in command; it would have just looked like a bad call on her part, instead of an officer, not following protocol and taking it upon herself to do her commanders job. Wearing the N7 dress uniform at the award ceremony- I just felt so dirty and unclean. I shouldn't have been there, the others knew I shouldn't. They didn't look at me kindly." She paused briefly. "Benson's wife was there. After the ceremony she went up to Shepard and gave her such an emotional beating. But Jane just stood there and took it. Offered up her apologies and condolences and that was that… but Shepard was that kind of women and I was too ashamed to correct it…"

Silence fell between them in that moment, and Tori turned her back on the turian as she rolled on her side and let the cool feeling of the roof embrace her for a moment.

"It wasn't Shepard's call to make, she should have just let me take the responsibility for my actions, and I could always do it again next year; pass correctly in Benson's honour, instead of sullying his memory and hiding my disgrace. I couldn't wear that uniform proudly after that, I felt like i didn't deserve it. So I left, came here. Joined C-Sec and, well, you know the rest."

* * *

So this was her big reason for leaving the Alliance - not because she was a spy or a mole, but because she felt so humiliated with being helped during her N7 test. Titus could have laughed in that moment with relief. His uncle was wrong, oh, so wrong. But Titus couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of Tori. It was almost turian-like to leave a job you felt disgraced in and here she was, in C-Sec, fighting back for her honour.

He reached out and rested his hand on her head; her hair, which was spreading about her in an unruly mess, mostly covered it. He had seen humans do this with their children to comfort them before; he patted her gently. "You know, Tori, it isn't our mistakes that define who we are, but how we deal with them that signifies whether or not we move on from them."

He heard a muffled laugh of disbelief from the mass of black hair, before silence fell between them again. "This coming from the mighty Cato, who's never made a mistake in his life."

He removed his hand from her head and laughed hard. "Tori, look at me." Reluctantly she did so, lifting her head up from off the roof, looking at him through strands of her hair.

"I've made many mistakes in my life, one in particular that will haunt me till my last days."

"Do tell" she responded, almost playfully, her head rested on her fist as it propped her up.

"Very well, since we are doing the whole 'sharing stories on the roof' thing… but promise me, after, we get down from this spirit-forsaken roof?"

She laughed now, smile wide and eyes alight, no longer sad. "Hmmm, I make no promises, but if it's a good damn story then alright, we have a deal." She was putting on a brave face, trying to ignore her sullen feelings.

Titus drew in a long breath and expelled it quickly; trying to settle the uneasy feeling he was getting in his gizzard. "Alright, here we go… So it was back when I was still pretty new at this whole C-Sec thing. I was also pretty new to the whole galactic community. Fresh out of military training."

"Is this before or after Leiada ruined you?" Tori interjected, Titus laughed at the question.

"Oh, way before. I was on patrol down in the Zakera Docks, pretty rough down there, lots of dodgy dealings. Plenty to do, but your chances of going home on such a night are pretty small. If you mess up big"

Tori pouted "And here they have me walking laps around the Presidium."

"Well, we can't have the princess breaking a nail now, can we?" he teased back, and she really didn't look happy about it.

"Your time will come, don't worry. So, we always work in groups of twos, for safety. I was with another turian called Chellick; sure you've met him. He's always lurking about. Well, anyway, he nudges me and points out to this one turian female."

Titus stopped briefly and closed his eyes, drawing back the memory of when he set eyes on that female the first time. He shook his head.

"Spirits… She was beautiful. Tall, slender. Her plates were the colour of Menae. Petite features and a waist so small you could wrap your hands around the thickness of it…"

"Love at first sight?" Tori asked, something weird in the tone of her voice, he didn't quite understand.

"Definitely! Well, more like an obsession at first sight." Titus corrected.

"So did you go over there and woo her?" Titus just looked at Tori, with a look that said he couldn't believe she was asking that type of question.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm pretty unattractive. I don't just stroll up to turian females."

"I thought you all are unattractive" She joked, quick to retaliate.

"Well, I'm even more so by turian standards. No, I didn't go up to her; she looked at me and before I could see the disgust in her eyes I looked away. Anyway, she eventually wandered up to the two of us and was asking directions to a place I now forget. I remained quiet, let Chellick do all the answering, but she was staring directly at me. She had these ice-blue eyes that felt like they could pierced armour."

Titus massaged either side of the bridge of his nose and squinted. "Long story short, I was besotted with her but her motives weren't exactly clean. She was a rogue biotic turned mercenary, Venatrix Venire. She spotted me out of a crowd easily. White turian, Cato markings; she groomed me for information and to get access to my father, who at the time was working on something big for the military. I was too foolish to realise all the signs."

"This sounds like it got really messy…"Tori said quietly, meaning it to be a rhetorical question.

"It did. I turned my back on my family, my friends, my performance at work started slipping. It wasn't until my uncle did some digging himself that he discovered the truth."

"Who is your uncle?" she asked quickly and Titus felt the knot of relief in his gut bunch up again.

"You don't know?" Tori shook her head. "Pallin is my uncle." An awkward silence fell between them, she was staring up at him, wide-eyed and confused. Titus felt suddenly ashamed of his purpose, of his secrets. A part of him wanted to confess all to her there and then, but the turian resisted. Blood makes relatives, loyalty makes family - he repeated in his head, reaffirming the Cato way of life.

"Continuing on, I was an idiot and I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to believe it, when my uncle revealed the truth. He's set up a raid to capture her and send her back to Palaven to seal her fate. I did something that I wasn't proud of. I interfered with the warrant for her arrest, so when they finally took her down, the court had no choice but to let her walk free. My uncle knew exactly what I had done. But he didn't tell a soul about it. Just took all the responsibility himself. Even went as far to say it was his mistake on the forms. Venari Pallin doesn't make mistakes… It was hard for him to bear, it was just as bad for me to grit and bear it also."

She said nothing after he was done, just rolled down onto her back and stared up to the sky. Her hand jutted out and pressed against his chest, before pushing him down to lay beside her. For a moment they both laid there in silence, staring up at the artificial sky and the cars that whizzed past.

"Feel better?" She said eventually. He laughed; strangely enough - he did, laying down on the roof, looking up, was much better than standing on it, thinking of the long drop down. Being like this almost felt like he was floating.

"Yes, actually." He rolled his head inside his cowl awkwardly, being on his back was uncomfortable and turian armour wasn't designed for a turian to be on his back. "You know I haven't shared that with anyone. You are quite easy to talk to, Shaw."

She smiled softly, and moved her head to look back at him. "Right back at you…" She sat up slowly and hugged her knees. "Seems like we've both messed up pretty big in our lives…" Tori sounded almost remorseful.

Titus rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow.

"True, but now we have each other to keep us on the straight and narrow, no more mess-ups, right?"

She nodded in confirmation, and hopped up to her feet, starting to sweep up her hair back into her work bun. "Shall we get down from this- what did you call it? – Spirit-forsaken roof?"

Titus laughed and nodded his head to confirm she was correct. He rose to his feet slowly and the two of them made their way down at a casual pace. He was certain Pallin was down there, waiting for Tori to make her reappearance, so he could give her a verbal beating. She wouldn't get away with her outburst, no matter what the excuse.

His eyes slid to the human woman beside him, all smiles and bounce back into her step, before he noticed her open collar and the bare flesh of her back and shoulder. "Tori…" he said cautiously, looking away from the sight. "Do up your collar, we've been up there for a while and people will talk."

She looked confused for moment, before she realised what he was going on about. Immediately, she started fiddling with the fastenings, doing them up one by one. She smiled wildly. "Imagine the political scandal! Turian captain fraternising with a human officer on C-Sec rooftops, I can almost see the headlines." She rolled her eyes at him. "Sprits forbid!"

Did she just use the turian phrase? He gave her a strange look as she pressed herself against the exit, her hand hovering over the access pad.

"You would be so lucky." She said, a glint of mischief in her eye, which Titus had to admit he did enjoy. She was flirting with him, for certain.

"Careful, Shaw, you're using turian phrases, people might think you're a xenophile." he replied, resting his hand above her head and leaning in close. She smiled then and hit the access pad. The doors opened on command, and the white turian stumbled.

"You would be so lucky…" she reaffirmed, doing something weird with one eye as it closed at him. She slipped out back into the main hall, where Pallin was looking directly at the two of them, his eyes calling for blood.


	9. Not a White Knight, Nor an Archangel

Chapter 9 – Not a White Knight, nor an Archangel with wings.

* * *

"DOWN!"

Before Titus knew what was what, a blur of C-Sec black-and-blue landed on top of him and pushed him down, into a narrow and terrible excuse for cover. A red beam of light, a blazing white bullets and a mass of jet-black hair all happened at once. It was Tori; she had just saved him from a kiss with a sniper bullet. His armour made a hard crack against the metal floor and he wiggled to get up, but she kept her weight on him for a moment longer as the air above them was alight with white tell-tale signs of bullets. She didn't meet him in the eyes once; her face looked cold, like it was calculating over a plan of action. She seemed so at ease in battle. If Titus was to be honest with himself, he had been waiting for a moment to see her truly in action. Her little spar with Leiada didn't count.

There was a quick pause in the fire and Tori pushed against him to bring herself up. She crouchedover him as she fired six consecutive shots from her favourite gun, the carnifex handcannon.

Powerful little gun; it had many uses although its problem was that it didn't have the ammo capacity to be truly useful. Still on his back, Titus drew his eyes over Tori's standard issued armour, pondering if he should encourage her to get something a little better. This one wasn't made for vanguards. They needed something protective, yet light – this one looked like it was weighing the human down a little. He could tell by the awkward, sluggish way she swung round cover. During the many hours he spent watching her dedicated schedule to the gym and training, her movements were fast, but always graceful.

It was in that moment she decided to look down at him and frowned. "Are you staring at my ass?" she said looking a little displeased. The fire had started again and she pushed herself a little closer to the box edge, slapping the side of her gun to eject the wasted clip and replace it with another one. "Eyes front solider!" she commanded in her 'ice princess' voice. Despite the chaos erupting around them, Titus managed to find a moment to roll his eyes.

"You were waving that thing in my face like an asari dancer, how was I not supposed to look?" Titus he replied, wiggling his eyebrow plates at her. There was another gap in the fire. And she rolled across the floor, back to her cover where she was originally, fired three shots this, time there wasn't enough time for six, before she was pressed up against the wall again.

She checked her gun and peered around the edge to see the combatants, never taking the time to look at the turian. "You know if I didn't need this entire clip, I think I would give you a bullet between the eyes" a surprisinginly calm smile came across her lips; it was a threat, but with that grin it meant she was playing with him.

Titus couldn't help but laughing, as he rolled onto his side and propped himself against the cover.

"Lei, you in position yet?" he spoke to the com quickly, changing the topic.

"I've been in position for the last five minutes, what has you so distracted, T.C.?" Lei's static tones over the radio couldn't hide her 'I know what you were doing' hints.

"Something fleshy and unappealing…" he retorted quickly and before Tori could shoot him a look like she was going to murder him - one that Leiada has kindly helped her perfect - he continued on more professionally. "OK, Leiada, you know what to do. Get in, get the girl, get out."

"Roger, but I could use some distraction, only so much an infiltration suit can do…" Before he had time to consider what to do. Tori shifted her weight behind her cover.

"One distraction coming up, I'll draw as much fire as I can, Lei."

And she was off, hopping over her cover and into the fray. She didn't even give him time to slap the implant attached to the side of his face, to activate his visor. Tori…that little idiot.

Vanguards… Headstrong, haphazard, high risk, and yet drew out high rewards. Oh, and stubborn; how could he forget stubborn. Tori all over.

Activating his omnitool, he pointed it to the heat energy signature, that his visor read as 'sniper', and hit the command for Exa.

The combat drone materialised beside the sniper and instantly started harassing him with a collection of shocks, forcing him out of cover.

Tori saw the opportunity as soon as it happened; she swerved out of her new cover behind a column, lined up her scope on her pistol and took a perfect headshot.

"Scoped and dropped!" she said enthusiastically over the radio, before sliding back behind the column as she came under fire again.

Titus laughed. He had never felt so at ease in battle before. This was different; interesting, but not unpleasant - it flowed like water, everything and everyone seemed to have its place and time. Tori knew when to move and when to fall back, she also knew when to take the advantages he was giving her. Who would have thought all those months back, the two of them would work so well together

Titus hit up his omnitool again, activating his quite unusual omnishield. He held it over his head, so he could continue to watch Tori from the back of the field.

"You ready?" He drawled, flicking his gaze over to her. She switched out her pistol and grabbed the standard issue shotgun from curve of her back. It unfolded in her hands and the woman] gave it one stroke along its length.

"I was born ready, Cato"

He chuckled, "We will see. Let's dance!" Picking out his avenger and loading it. "I'll give you a covering spray; do what you have to do." He saw her turn her body and shift her weight on her back foot, yet another gift from Leiada. How much had that asari been teaching her out of Titus' viewpoint? "Always, Captain" Tori scoffed back, flirty in her tone. Then she ripped across the battlefield quicker than the eye could follow, a tail of mass effect blue behind her.

Titus balanced his gun on his arm that was holding his shield. The barrel pointed out the sythentic mailbox. And pushed those Tori had drawn attention too back into cover with his spray.

As crazy as he thought vanguards were, he had to admit they were unique in battle. She fitted well into his stye, like a foot and boot. She was ready, to meet SRT-Alpha, he would present her to 'Chief' soon.

Nova to draw in close, pull if they weren't, followed by a simple shot gun blast. If they were still standing she swept them off their feet with a well-placed biotic fist to the face. She danced between enemies and cover. Seamlessly.

One that tried to come up behind her. Titus easily distracted with a carefully placed 'incinerate'

"Coward" Titus muttered.,as the target tried to bat out the flames in panic. That alerted Tori to their presence and she turned on the balls of her feet and shockwaved them, clean off the ground. The strange base line sound of her biotics was like a music of the deepest clubs, heavy and deep; she danced to her own tune.

Lei was dead over the com, her silence could only mean that she was nearing her objective. Good, they wouldn't have to continue this for much longer. Get in, get the girl, get out. It was the only goal on their mission.

What happened next was unexpected, to put it politely; how he allowed it to happen was a little beyond him. Tori had found herself surrounded by enemies; she didn't call for assistance, just dealt with what was in front of her. But there she was in a collective of mercs, only with her nova, shockwave and shotgun.

Her shields were out, a rookie mistake for when you don't have cover near. But that's not what would eventually take her down.

Something stream-lined and fast whisked across the blue of his visor screen. "ROCKET!" he called out. Tori turned in time just to see it, she didn't freeze. She flipped back her gloved hands pushing herself back, out of reach of the blast. The rocket landed where she was standing before, but the blast caught her, making her stumble backwards.

As she tried to regain her balance - that's when it happened. One bullet, one singular precise shot caught her in her in the shoulder. Titus heard her cry through the chaos as she flinched from the shot, dropping to the floor in what Titus witnessed as slow motion before she dragged her body behind a crate. Bullets ripped into the flimsy cover; they would eat away at it within seconds. Titus' world went white.

* * *

'Left means death, left means death come on, Tori… wiggle your left hand!' Tori repeated in her head as she lay on the floor, seemingly unconcerned that her cover was being blown away bit by bit. She wrote with her left hand. So she wiggled it. It was the hand holding onto her shoulder. Thank the gods.

She had been shot before; one didn't spend eight years as a solider and didn't get caught by a bullet. But one never got used to the pain. Her hand was shaking as she fumbled to pour medigel over her wound.

Her wounded arm felt useless beyond the pain.

'What do we say to the gods of death…' she thought, as she examined the blood on her hand. That was something she would never get over, her own blood on her hand. Strange, wet, sticky and - despite being her own - foreign. She turned her head to examine what was going on behind her. Help would be coming in the shape of a white turian. 'Not today…'

A flash-bang grenade landed next to her. Tori had just enough time to close her eyes, but it was the high-pitched whine she hated. The world was nothing but white noise.

Perhaps that's how she noticed him;Titus, hopping over his cover effortlessly, crouching behind his shield, firing shots that at those who dared to fire one bullet at her. He moved sideways, towards her. And Tori rolled onto her back; to see his combat drone hovering over her. Orange, like all drones were, but this one had an interesting red outline. What was more peculiar, was that it was shooting out steady pulses of electrical energy. Did they do that? Tori was sure that drones she had seen only electrocuted at close rage. Perhaps she was delirious.

A black shadow lingered over her; its silhouette was familiar, with its long crest, one bit missing. "Titus" she whispered as he gingerly grabbed her by her good arm and assisted her to her feet. He pulled her close, his arm wrapped around her waist, so that she was covered by the majority of his shield. Her white knight, she couldn't help but smile at the thought... The turian was screaming something in his com, she could see his mandibles fluttering wildly, his mouth wide as he made words she couldn't hear, and it wasn't the look she had come to identify as a grin.

He suddenly pushed her roughly into the wall. She cried out in pain, as she was slammed into the cold, hard surface. But the reason for this mishandling was revealed quick enough, as an explosion erupted behind them. Titus seemingly ignored the bullets whizzing behind them, as they were pinned down in their pathetic excuse for refuge

He grabbed hold of the pauldron of Tori's armour and ripped it off with ease. She winced, too distracted by marvelling at his strength to pay attention to the pain. She could feel his hand around her shoulder blade, drew his hand back and saw it come back covered in her blood. The bullet had gone all the way through.

Tori saw a shadow move behind him; her eyes went wide as her mouth opened to shout a warning.

But Titus noticed the look in her eyes and turned - pushing her back, shielding her with his body, no concern for himself. His hand pushed her further, as if she could bury herself into the wall any further.

The human man stepped forward, shaking in his armour, his eyes looks glazed, this wasn't fear. It was wild delirium his shotgun ready to blow through the white turian before him. It was almost as if Titus did not even see the gun in front of him. He stepped forward and with one swift move slammed the front of his skull into the man's head. The guy slumped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Titus turned back to Tori, his brow plates cracked and bleeding; that was right, his plates were softer than normal. Ultramarine blood dripped down his face, but he didn't even notice.

His eyes were only for her, his concern was only on her. She was safe; he would keep her safe. That relief washed over her and she could feel her legs give into the call. Closing eyes and gave in allowing] her eyes flutter shut and falling into the darkness.

* * *

Leiada rushed to the hospital as quickly as she could after dropping off her mission objective. The girl was only nine A timid, shy thing; she was a favourite of the asari consort and was being held for ransom.

Leiada knew that she asked for a distraction… but sheesh, who knew that a downed cop and a slightly berserk turian could draw so much attention.

She ran through glass doors and through sterile hallways, till she could hear a familiar voice being shouting in a not so familiar emotion.

"I demand you let me see her!" Anger, which was not something she associated with Titus as level-headed and gentle as he was. She turned a corner to see him bent over the counter, finger pointed in a salarian's face. The salarian looked less than impressed but also his eyes announced he was about to shit his pants.

"Sorry, but we can't let anyone but family see the patient, and you are not family."

Titus hissed and slammed his fist down into the counter; it bent and warped under the pressure. "What bureaucratic crap is this?" he chortled, his mandibles fluttering in that turian, threatening way.

"I'll have to ask you to calm down, before I call C-Sec" The salarian receptionist threatened, although his voice wavered and was giving into his fear.

"I AM C-Sec!" Titus hissed back, his mandibles fluttering, at the sides of his face as he drew in close, doing the one things turian's did not do, unless they were about to seriously hurt someone and that was invade their personal space.

Ok, time for her to step in. She approached Titus' side quietly, and placed her hand on his arm, looking at the salarian receptionist with a cold look. "Leiada E'leust, Spectre, first class. I'm going in and I'm taking this guy with me." She could feel Titus' gaze burn into the side of her face; she moved her blue eyes to glance at the look he was giving her. It was angry but also hurt. Betrayed. She gave him an apologetic smile. Yes, she had kept it a secret from him this long. She opened up her omnitool, waving her holographic Spectre badge at the receptionist.

The salarian looked at the two of them. "Well, I am not the one to deny the authority of a Spectre…" he mumbled and waved his hand gesturing them away. Titus snatched his arm away from her, before hastily moving to the room where he knew Tori was in; he stopped over the threshold and seemed unable to continue any further. Leiada followed him with a sighand slipped passed unoticed.

Only to see Tori sat upright in the bed, huge smile on her face as a doctor cleaned up her wound to place a fresh dressing on it.

"Giving you are a biotic, I expect you will discharged in a few days. A little physical therapy and we will have you in tip-top fighting condition in no time." The doctor said kindly. Leiada saw the tension in Titus' shoulders drop. His hand rubbed at his face as he tried to rub the worried look away. Leiada smiled. Who would ever known Titus Cato could be so worried for a human, almost as if she was part of his own clan. This was an interesting turn of events.

"Hey, guys…" Tori's calm and happy voice greeted them. Her words were also a little slurred - obviously they had put her on some serious pain medication - but she obviously tried to fight through the cloud of fuzz in her brain.

Tori smiled wider, before she met Titus' long gaze and for a moment neither of them blinked. Ok, how did Leiada miss these? Silent conversations of those two - she had seen them before, and she had not yet learnt to read them. But they were usually saved for those who had spent many years together, not a few brief months.

Titus still didn't move from his spot fixed on the floor. Of course, Leiada would once again have to do a little meddling; this was just too good not to pass up. She leant in towards him and gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow.

As commanded, he stepped to the side of the bed and stared down at Tori, still wordless. Goddess, Cato, you are helpless sometimes, the huntress thought as she took up her position at the foot of the bed. She was about to say something to cut the tension in the air, when Tori did it for her. "What?" she looked up at the turian beside her, her head tilted to the side like she always did.

"I-Umm" He mumbled, scratching the side of his head and looking away.

Leiada couldn't help but grin wider. Titus Cato, smooth-talker, was lost for words. It was brilliant.

"I was worried," Titus said as he managed to fumble through his thoughts. He reached out for the chair behind him and dragged it closer allowing himself to sit down. "They wouldn't let me see you…"

Tori reached out with her hand and stroked the top of his frontal plates; he winced as her thumb stroked over his new crack. Leiada wondered if Tori knew how rubbery Titus scales felt in comparison to other turians. And when did they get so touchy-feely?

"I'm fine" Tori assured, before snapping her hand away and looking to the doctor, who was still poking away at her newly acquired wound. "Right, Doc?"

The doctor nodded, before looking up at the turian sitting across from him. "Couple of painkillers, lots of rest and she'll be back to kicking asses in no time" He said with a smile, before he frowned. "Goodness, look at that crack! We'll need to patch that up right away" he said, finishing applying Tori's clean shook his head.

"I'm fine, doctor. My punishment for headbutting someone."

"You headbutted someone?" Leiada said in amazement. Titus never got into physical confrontation, he hated it. She laughed at the thought that he headbutted someone to protect Tori, "How adorable…" she teased, before 'mother asari mode' kicked in. "Don't be stubborn, T.C, let the Doc look at you."

Titus sighed as the human doctor started fiddling around his new crack, using the ultrasound waves to make the medi-gel melt away, before applying a swab of cotton to absorb the bleeding.

"So, if they didn't let you in, how are you in here?" Tori then questioned Leiada directly, letting Titus be fawned over by the doctor. But Titus was the one who replied.

"Ask the Spectre here…" He said bitterly. He was clearly hurt over the fact she hadn't told him sooner. Tori's face was warped in an expression that said 'I don't believe it'.

"Alright, alright, children, let's not make a big deal about it. Yes, I am a Spectre, been so for the last hundred years."

Tori nodded and tried to shrug, but winced at using her hurt shoulder.

"Well, it makes sense. Now I know how you get your hands on those beautiful guns of yours." Tori she dismissed light-heartedly, despite being spoken through her teeth as she fronted the pain.

Huh, the human knew how to lighten the mood. Seemed like getting shot suited her, it had blown down the last of her defences. Leiada moved to the edge of the bed, where the doctor was before, and gave Tori's bandage a poke.

"Ow! Quit it!" Tori exclaimed and tried to slap the asari's hand away, but her movements were so slow she missed completely.

Leiada laughed.

"You're one of us now, Tori" she said affectionately and patted her the human closer to her neck not to disturb the wound more than needed. "Your first C-Sec scar… Wear it proudly" The doctor decided he would interrupt at this point.

"Oh yes, it will leave quite an attractive scar."

Tori turned her head to look at her bandage with a confused look. Leiada didn't know what to make of that expression. Then all of them in the room decided to laugh in unison, before they were interrupted by a sudden whirlwind of silver and white.

"Jesus Christ, how did this happen?!"

An older woman barged in, pushed passed Leiada and embraced Tori tightly. The human tried to repress the pain and just smiled, stroking the silver head of hair affectionately.

"Mum, I'm I cop, I'm going to get shot."

Leiada examined the woman's face a little closer, to see that she was indeed just an older version of Tori - differently coloured eyes, lighter skin, but the resemblance wasn't hard to miss. The older Shaw woman took her child's face in her hands and studied her eyes carefully.

She then decided to look around the room, looking to the woman she pushed first and then her eyes settled on the doctor and the white turian he was working on. The strife in her face melted away and was replaced with something Leiada could only interpret as pure hate.

"You!" she said, pointing directly at Titus, Her voice had even startled the doctor, who stopped] patching up the crack in the turian's head. Titus looked alarmed, but he quickly hid it behind that rigid, turian demeanour.

"Get out!" Tori's mother seethed, her body bent over Tori's protectively. Tori looked "mostly dazed.

"Mother, this is Titus Cato. My partner, he saved my life." she protested, trying to push her mother back across the bed.

"Save you, indeed! It was most likely his fault!" Leiada witnessed Titus flinch ever so slightly, guilt perhaps, maybe she was reading a little too into it? Perhaps it was just his Cato pride being hurt. He stood on his feet slowly; never taking his gaze off the Tori's mother's own hate-filled one. He bowed his head and left the room without a word.

Leiada didn't follow, she knew better, but it was Tori's mother's words that fixed her to her position. "Filthy turian…"


End file.
